Industry pleas for an extension of Atol protection to scheduled airlines are likely to fall on deaf ears unless there is action in Brussels.
Abta and member companies Thomas Cook and Tui Travel have criticised plans for Atol reform as “flawed” because airlines are excluded.
They will have a fresh chance to make their point in a consultation this spring, but the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) does not foresee a change.
CAA consumer protection group deputy director David Moesli said: “The government is looking for industry views on this. But when the Department for Transport consulted on Atol reform under the last government in early 2010 it made clear that including scheduled airlines was not on the table. The current government’s position is no different.”
That leaves an area of potential confusion for consumers and commercial disadvantage for travel firms, as seat-only sales through third parties will be Atol-protected but seat-only sales made direct with carriers will not.
The DfT considered a change to seat-only protection as part of the current reforms – either by bringing all sales into the Atol scheme or excluding seat-only all together. It opted to do neither and leave things as they are.
Moesli said: “The government has decided it does not want to row back on protection by taking existing seat-only out of protection.”
However, he said a move by major charter carriers to follow Tui Travel in removing seat-only sales from Atol cover would make little difference to consumers. “We expect many of these seats will come back into Atol protection through flight-plus sales,” said Moesli.
He added: “We believe there is some impetus to review seat-only protection on scheduled carriers in Europe.”