FIRST Choice is introducing a £5 per person levy in
its third-edition summer 2002 brochures due to a sharp increase in aviation
insurance and security costs following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The move follows ABTA’s request to the Government to change
the current rules on surcharging in the Package Travel Regulations. It wants to
get rid of the rule that requires operators to absorb the first 2% of any
increased costs and allow members to impose surcharges up to 20 days before
departure, rather than the current 30 days.
Most ABTA operators are expected to insert a new
clause in their brochures which says they may have to impose surcharges if
their costs increase.
First Choice managing director of UK businesses Dermot
Blastland said before September 11 it was easier for operators to estimate
costs for items such as fuel. “The 2% rule was never meant to cope with the
current environment. We’re nervous about the scale of the disruption,” he said.
Details of the £5 levy will appear on each price panel
in First Choice’s new brochures. The same levy has been introduced for
flight-only bookings.
Airtours is also expected to introduce a supplement at
the time of booking a holiday to cover the extra costs of airport security and
insurance but is not yet sure how much it will be.
Airtours head of legal services Andrew Cooper said it
would also introduce a surcharge clause. “It is not something we want to do, it
is because of the sheer uncertainty in the marketplace.”
Thomson holiday service director John de Vial said it
had not made a final decision on introducing a supplement or inserting a
surcharge clause.
He said the operator had
considered incorporating the extra costs in its brochure price but then it
would be penalising every holidaymaker when it may not be necessary. “The
increased costs might turn out to be very different for someone going on
holiday next May than next October,” he said.