NEWMAN Street has threatened to throw Luton Airport
out of ABTA after it organised a function that clashed with the convention’s
official welcome party in Cairo.
Delegates heading for the Luton bash were ushered away
from tables at the welcome party at 9.15pm – before Egyptian prime minister
Atef Ebeid rose to speak.
ABTA chief executive Ian Reynolds is considering a
range of options including suspending Luton’s travel industry partner status,
banning it from next year’s convention in Majorca or booting it out altogether.
“This is a disgrace,” said Reynolds. “It’s an
embarrassment to ABTA and an insult to our Egyptian hosts.”
Luton Airport head of sales and marketing Mandy Round
blamed Newman Street for the mix-up.
She said: “I told Ian
Reynolds what we were doing beforehand and he was happy.”