My airline has gone out of business, what do I do?

What you do next will depend on how you booked:

If you booked a package holiday, contact the travel agent or tour operator who you made the booking with and they will be able to provide you with assistance in making alternative arrangements. You will be entitled to be brought home if you are already in resort.

If you booked a linked travel arrangement there won’t be any financial protection in place unless you booked your holiday directly with the airline. In this case, you should get your money back. If you booked it through a travel company, you’ll need to speak to them directly.

If you booked a flight with a travel agent, speak to your travel agent. If they provided you with the flight ticket when you booked then they do not have to find an alternative flight or refund you, but they might have put in place airline failure insurance that could assist you.

If you booked a flight directly with the airline and paid on a credit or debit card, you need to speak to your card provider. 

Am I covered by my travel insurance?

Check the small print on your policy. A few travel insurance policies will include Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance (SAFI) but this is not generally included as standard.

Top tip

Also check the information provided by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) at www.caa.co.uk.