MP hints at changes to funding of swollen Air Travel Trust Fund
Operators have called for a reduction in the level of contributions to the Air Travel Trust Fund after it was revealed that its surplus is close to ‘an excessive’ £100 million.
The fund, which is used to refund and repatriate passengers when an ATOL-holder fails, increased by £39 million last year to £93.7 million by the end of March.
Its annual accounts, released this week, show that £59.4 million was paid into the fund last year by ATOL-holders, but the amount paid out following company collapses was just £5.5 million, even though there were two more failures last year than in the previous 12 months.
Speaking at the ABTA Travel Matters conference on Tuesday, Robert Goodwill, parliamentary under secretary of state for transport, said his department would have to decide what should happen when the fund reached ‘a level which we are comfortable with’.
Goodwill didn’t say what that figure would be, but he suggested a banding system for Air Protection Contributions could be introduced in the future.
At the moment, ATOL-holders pay a flat fee of £2.50 per passenger into the fund, regardless of the cost of the trip or the distance travelled.
Responding to a comment from an AITO member who questioned the need for ATOL holders to continue to finance the ATTF now it has almost reached ‘an excessive £100 million’, Goodwill said: "We have to look to see if banding is appropriate. Should you pay £2.50 if you are going to Benidorm or Barbados?
"This is something we have to kick around."
He said the DfT was ‘very open to suggestions’.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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