The CAA has granted tour operator Sunweb an Atol after Travel Weekly reported the EU-based company was offering flight-based package holidays for sale through its UK online retail arm Sunweb UK without a licence.
Offering flight-inclusive packages for sale without an Atol is a breach of the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs), which specify a travel organiser “is required to hold a licence” under the Atol Regulations. This was confirmed by the Department of Business (BEIS) in guidance last July: “Traders not established in the UK selling or offering for sale packages in the UK…must comply with the UK insolvency regime.”
Netherlands-based Sunweb said last month that “all flight packages are currently covered by the SGR scheme [in the Netherlands]” but added: “We expect to be granted an Atol in the very near future.”
However, Travel Weekly revealed the CAA had been notified three years ago that Sunweb was selling flight-inclusive packages without an Atol (Travel Weekly, January 19).
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In fact, the company has required an Atol since the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020. Prior to that, EU-based operators could sell flight-based packages in the UK without a licence.
Sunweb Group spokesperson Martine Langerak said: “We’re pleased the Sunweb Group has been granted an Atol. Most importantly, we’re pleased we can continue to offer our customers unique holidays across Europe, safe in the knowledge they are fully protected.”
However, the length of the application appears excessive. The CAA notes in its licensing terms: “The CAA…will generally deem an application withdrawn if an applicant has not actively pursued the application (eg by not providing information requested by the CAA) within a reasonable period of time.”
The regulator declined to comment on the terms of the licence, but as a new Atol holder Sunweb, which is licensed for 11,769 Atol-protected sales to the public, would be required to provide a bond equivalent to 15% of licensable revenue.
The company is already bonded with Abta, of which it is a member, for non-flight packages.