A senior industry figure has accused the government of “money grabbing” and the Civil Aviation Authority of “forming a human shield with agents”.
On Holiday Group managing director Steve Endacott hit out at government Atol-reform plans, telling a meeting at the Abta Travel Convention in Palma: “There is a fundamental change of risk moving from the CAA to travel agencies.
Endacott said: “The CAA is forming a human shield with agents in front of it.” He added: “It is money grabbing.”
However, Endacott said: “It would be silly not to realise we have to comply. We will be complying even though we don’t like it and don’t agree with the regime.”
He said some companies would find compliance easier than others. “It is easiest for the consortia, but they are going to charge for it,” he said. “For a medium-size business, trust funds are becoming more achievable and cost effective, but they will tie up your cash flow.
Endacott said retailers that already hold “a fig-leaf Atol”, covering a small proportion of what they sell, would avoid the cost of bonding as a new Atol holder.
He added: “Agent for the customer is the most dangerous route. You have to get your terms and conditions right and it will bring you legal uncertainty.”
Tony Mooney of merchant acquirer First Data suggested agents could see a reduction in the cost of credit card transactions as a result of acquiring a Flight Plus licence.
Mooney said: “We saw a lot of businesses being asked for higher security because a merchant acquirer’s risk went up with dynamic packaging. The situation will improve [with Flight Plus] and reduce risk exposure for those heavily involved in dynamic packaging.
He added: “It is good news, it will help us, but there are a lot of issues still to talk about.”
Abta head of legal affairs Simon Bunce said: “By this time next year, I believe we will be saying ‘this [reform] is not bad’. But we are going to have six months of complete chaos.”