ALMOST one in 10 travel firms due to renew Air Travel Organisers’ Licences in September have failed to do so, more than double the rate of a year ago.
The Civil Aviation Authority views the ATOL renewal rate as a measure of the strength of the air holiday market. Two-thirds of the 9% of firms to pull out were small business licence holders – 4% failed to renew last year.
More than 1,500 firms, out of 2,500, were due to renew ATOLs in September and 140 failed to do so. CAA head of ATOL licensing Andy Cohen said the figures “reflect the difficulties small start-up businesses experience when trading conditions are difficult”.
The CAA said most firms were licensed to carry a similar number of holidaymakers to last year.
The CAA and ABTA confirmed the collapse of four travel companies in the last week. Waltham Cross-based agency Holiday Index failed last week leaving customers in Salou, Spain, facing a demand for £3,000 from a hotelier until ABTA footed the bill. The company sold accommodation-only and ATOL-bonded holidays and the CAA expects about 30 claims.
Masterplan Publishing, a Christian operator that traded as Mastersun and Masterski, ceased trading with 150 people abroad. The company had an ATOL bond worth £480,000.
Managing director Bob Flemming said the New Malden firm was splitting its business into accommodation-only and flight-only divisions when cashflow problems forced it to pull its bond. The CAA confirmed the company had 100 forward bookings.
Champion Travel Agency, Twickenham, also ceased trading, with a small number of customers affected, and Worldchoice’s Centre Travel 1990, which traded as Bacup Travel Centre in Manchester, had its ABTA membership terminated when it missed a deadline to submit accounts.