CAA reveals 704 out of 805 Atols granted after deadline extension

The aviation regulator has granted 704 out of 805 Atols that originally expired at the end of March after the renewal process was extended by a month due to the “unprecedented” Covid-19 pandemic.

Fifty five firms did not apply this year and 46 applications have yet to be renewed.

The extension was granted to enable licence holders to focus resources on the impact of the crisis and look after their customers, particularly those still abroad, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.

This also allowed the CAA to concentrate its resources, “as well as giving due consideration of the Atol holders applying for renewal to reassess the basis of their application”.

Head of licensing operations Michael Budge said: “While the decision to extend the renewal period is an exceptional one, it has been the correct course of action to allow both the Civil Aviation Authority and Atol holders to focus their efforts on the issues arising out of this current situation.

“These circumstances also highlight the Civil Aviation Authority’s need to continue to focus on ensuring the appropriate protection of advance customer monies as well as Atol holders maintaining adequate liquidity, sufficient to meet future obligations.

“Where appropriate the Civil Aviation Authority will enhance its approach to meet this objective.

“It is important that Atol holders continue to work closely with the Atol team, so that we can provide support where possible for the benefit of both the travel industry and consumers.”

His comments come amid global travel restrictions which have forced operators to suspend programmes and deal with customer demands for refunds for cancelled holidays.

“Given the unique and highly challenging circumstances, we have used this extension to process the outstanding applications and give due consideration to all Atol holders submitting their renewal applications,” Budge said.

“The Civil Aviation Authority has also needed to review its approach to licensing Atol holders to reflect the impact of Covid-19 and would like to thank the industry for its patience.

“Our online renewal system allowed us to efficiently approve applications from smaller companies and allowed our specialist team to focus their resources effectively while the Civil Aviation Authority team are working remotely.

“I would like to thank our teams for their work on this while the Civil Aviation Authority deals with a number of high priority obligations because of Covid-19’s effect on the travel industry.”

Some Atol holders’ applications had already been processed at the end of March, however all had their licences extended to April 28.

The CAA would not consider extending the renewal deadline under normal conditions and Atol holders that submitted their applications later than recommended would not benefit from an extension to their licence.

However, following advice from the authority during previous renewals periods, many Atol holders applied earlier to renew. This ensured all necessary information was available at the time of submission.

Despite the extension to the renewals process, the deadline for submissions remained at March 31.