The collapse of Spanair and Malev within days of each other last week means that airlines must be brought under the Atol umbrella, the Association of Independent Tour Operators has urged.
Aito chairman Derek Moore, speaking in the wake of Atol reform being debated in the House of Commons in front of the transport select committee, called for action after airlines said there was no need for them to be included in the scheme.
He said: “Spanair on Tuesday, Malev on Friday morning – it seems to me that the airline industry doth protest too much.
“Airlines are no less subject to the current economic climate than the rest of us, as this little spate of collapses just goes to prove.
“It’s clear to Aito and its nearly 150 Atol-protected tour operator members that it’s imperative that the airlines are brought within the Atol legislation as soon as possible for both the protection of the public and for the clarification of the rules/levelling of the playing field, and we urge the government to reconsider and to do the right thing.”