31 May
2018

Department for Transport responds to ATOL consultation

The Department for Transport has published the government’s response to the recent ATOL consultation, confirming final decisions and announcing some minor amendments to the ATOL Regulations that are to be adopted in parliament. 

The full response to the consultation can be accessed here.

In summary, following consultation with industry, the government announced they would make the following decisions and changes:

  • Narrow the regulation to make clear that intermediaries who are organising a package or facilitating a flight sale and receive payment from the consumer are within scope of ATOL
  • Have decided that retail agents will not be required to hold their own ATOL when selling multi-contract packages organised by an ATOL holder
  • Are making extra provision in the ATOL regulations to ensure that the scheme is robust and compliant with the Package Travel Directive (PTD) 2015
  • Will work on providing guidance to industry to better regulate PTD 2015 through the concept of linked travel arrangements.

ABTA is awaiting publication of the revised Regulations from the DfT, as well as a response from the CAA on their own consultation on ATOL Standard Terms. We will make Members aware of these documents once they are published.