Over 100 expired ATOLs not renewed
T
he UK Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed that of the 805 ATOLs that originally expired on March 31, 704 have been granted.
Of those that were due to expire, 55 companies did not re-apply, which means 46 re-applied but have not yet been approved.
The renewal deadline had been extended until April 28 2020 due to the unprecedented events arising from Covid-19.
Michael Budge, head of ATOL licensing operations for the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: "Given the unique and highly challenging circumstances, we have used this extension to process the outstanding applications and give due consideration to all ATOL holders submitting their renewal applications.
"The Civil Aviation Authority has also needed to review its approach to licensing ATOL holders to reflect the impact of Covid-19 and would like to thank the industry for its patience. Our online renewal system allowed us to efficiently approve applications from smaller companies and allowed our specialist team to focus their resources effectively while the Civil Aviation Authority team are working remotely.
"I would like to thank our teams for their work on this while the Civil Aviation Authority deals with a number of high priority obligations because of Covid-19’s effect on the travel industry. While the decision to extend the renewal period is an exceptional one, it has been the correct course of action to allow both the Civil Aviation Authority and ATOL holders to focus their efforts on the issues arising out of this current situation.
"These circumstances also highlight the Civil Aviation Authority’s need to continue to focus on ensuring the appropriate protection of advance customer monies as well as ATOL holders maintaining adequate liquidity, sufficient to meet future obligations. Where appropriate the Civil Aviation Authority will enhance its approach to meet this objective.
"It is important that ATOL holders continue to work closely with the ATOL team, so that we can provide support where possible for the benefit of both the travel industry and consumers."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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