Many agents and suppliers will still not be compliant with the new Flight-Plus Atol regulations when the grace period ends on June 1, Abta warned this week.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) declined to put a number on the firms likely to fall outside the rules from Friday, but Abta head of financial protection John de Vial said: “A lot of members are still working on implementation. There are a lot of concerns.”
Knock Travel owner Doreen McKenzie said: “Everyone seems to have a different interpretation of the rules. People are scared because of the short time to implement this. A month’s grace in peak-booking season is nothing.”
McKenzie told an Abta travel law seminar in London: “The bit I’m struggling with is the agency agreements. We’ve received agreements from just 25% of suppliers. Maybe the other 75% will be on my desk when I get back. I’ve yet to see one agreement from a web-based airline.”
She added: “There is a will to get this done, but it is a busy time.” Journey Latin America managing director Sarah Bradley agreed: “We want to implement it, but it is a struggle.”
De Vial said: “There are still people in wait-and-see mode and that is a worry for us.”
David Moesli, deputy director of the CAA consumer protection group, said: “Some companies have got moving on this. Some, quite frankly, are lagging.
“I can’t say I have much sympathy for people who have done nothing.”
Kate Jennings, head of aviation policy implementation at the Department for Transport, told the seminar: “Whatever deadline we gave, it was going to be difficult. At some point you have to say this is when we are going to draw a line.”
Moesli said: “If you give people three or four months, does it speed up the process?”