ABTA notes the publication today by the CAA of additional information about the Government’s ATOL reform proposals. 

Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive, said: “We will review the CAA’s information paper closely.  In our response to the ATOL reform consultation in September, we called on the Government to provide further clarity on key aspects of the proposals – including the payment policies and level of protection to be offered by the Air Travel Trust Fund; the mechanism for implementing the ATOL certificate and the concept of ‘approved bodies’. 

We will consider the Paper in detail and provide a summary for Members shortly.

While we are supportive of Flight Plus as a first step to improve consumer protection, it is critical that the Government gives a clear commitment to include holiday sales by airlines within the scope of protection.  ABTA has long called for all holiday arrangements to be included in a scheme of financial protection, otherwise the system will remain confusing for consumers and damaging for UK travel businesses. 

There is still much to be done:  the detail behind concepts like ‘approved bodies’ and the payment policies of the Air Travel Trust Fund trustees are key to determining the workability of the scheme.”