The Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) appeal against the not-guilty verdict in the Travel Republic case is likely to be rejected, according to The Co-operative Travel Group managing director Mike Greenacre.
Travel Republic and its director Kane Pirie were cleared of breaching ATOL regulations earlier this month, and the CAA is hoping to have the decision overturned by the High Court.
Speaking at the Freedom Travel Group conference in Manchester yesterday, Greenacre said he had looked at the judgement and could not see any reason why the decision would be reversed.
He said the group would continue to use ATOL for the moment. “We have a very serious social and ethical agenda across all our business. We believe it is right and proper that all customers’ money is properly protected, so our position is unchanged.
“We believe it is wrong that there is complete and utter confusion over financial protection. In most cases, customers think they are protected when they’re not.”
However, he said he would reconsider his position after the appeal, which is expected some time in February and March 2010.
“The right time to change is when the CAA’s position is clear. We would have to give serious thought to the consequences of another rejection,” he said.
One option the group would look at is self-insuring, he said.