The government has postponed Atol reform and the launch of the Flight-Plus licence to April in line with industry demands and has delayed announcing any decisions on other aspects of reform.
In a statement to Parliament, transport minister Theresa Villiers promised a further announcement “before the end of the year”.
Villiers said: “I am announcing a change to the planned implementation date for the proposed reforms to the Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (ATOL) scheme . . . proposed to come into force on 1 January.
“Over 80 responses to the ATOL Reform Consultation were received. The final details of the ATOL reforms are being decided in light of these responses.
“The overwhelming view from the travel industry has been that implementation on 1 January would provide insufficient time for businesses to make the necessary preparations to comply. This is partly due to the time needed to update IT systems and put in place the processes required to enable businesses to identify when a Flight Plus holiday has been formed.
“In recognition of these concerns and to ensure the new regulations are implemented fully, consistently and in a way that minimises the scope for error and subsequent confusion among passengers, I have decided that the new regulations will not now come into force on 1 January.
“Instead I intend to implement the reforms in April 2012 in order to give the industry enough time to respond to these new consumer protection requirements.
“I expect to make a further announcement before the end of the year about decisions on the other ATOL reform issues.”