XL Update: ATOL Will Cover Hotel Bills, Customers Told
Jim
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it had now successfully
completed the first phase of its repatriation operation to bring back
customers over the weekend. Currently, 158 flights have been arranged
which have carried or will carry 37,150 passengers back to the UK from a
total of 38 destinations.
ATOL-protected customers of the failed XL Leisure Group tour operators
who are still abroad are reminded that their holidays are financially
protected from the moment the company went into administration on 12
September. The CAA, which manages the ATOL scheme, told XL holidaymakers
they should not need to pay hotel bills at the end of their stays.
Hoteliers who have charged XL package tourists directly, because of
fears that they will not be paid, are being contacted by the CAA and UK
tour operators with reassurance that bills from the time of XL?s
collapse will be settled in full by ATOL. Customers who are asked to
settle bills at hotels and resorts are advised to immediately contact
the in resort holiday representatives of Thomson, First Choice, Thomas
Cook or Virgin Holidays who are liaising closely with the CAA.
Otherwise, customers should phone the ATOL helpline ? tel. 00 44 2891
856547 ? for advice.
Passengers who booked directly with XL Airways or the XL subsidiary,
Medlife, which sold only accommodation, are not covered by ATOL.
Richard Jackson, CAA Director of Consumer Protection, said: ?ATOL offers
complete financial protection covering both flights and accommodation.
If you are covered then you should not have to pay for anything that was
covered under your original package. The CAA and tour operators are
contacting hoteliers to remind them that ATOL will be picking up the
bills from the point of XL?s collapse.?
The flights currently organised by the CAA are from Alicante, Malaga
(Spain); Palma (Majorca); Athens, Chania, Corfu, Heraklion, Kalamata,
Kavala, Kefalonia, Kos, Mykonos, Preveza, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini,
Skiathos, Zante (Greece); Bodrum, Dalaman (Turkey); Cagliari (Sardinia);
Faro (Portugal); Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt); Bridgetown
(Barbados); Antigua, Grenada, St Kitts, St Lucia (Caribbean); Larnaca,
Paphos (Cyprus); Orlando, Sanford (Florida); Arrecife (Lanzarote);
Fuerteventura, Las Palmas, Tenerife (Canaries); Mahon (Minorca).
Arrival airports in the UK are Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, East
Midlands, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and
Newcastle.
People can refer to the CAA website www.atol.org.uk under 'failure of XL
Leisure Group' and 'more information for passengers in resort' for up-
to-date information on all repatriation flights that have been arranged.
The call centre numbers are +44 (0) 2891 856547 for customers abroad;
and 0870 590 0927 for customers in the UK with advance bookings.
Customers are asked to check the ATOL website before telephoning as the
information they need is likely to be found there.
For further information contact the CAA Press Office
Notes to Editors:
ATOL (short for Air Travel Organisers? Licensing) is managed by the CAA
and gives comprehensive protection from losing money or being stranded
abroad to 26 million people in the UK who buy air holidays and flights
from tour operators each year. It is by far the largest travel
protection scheme in the UK, and the only one for flights and air
holidays sold by tour operators.
All tour operators selling flights and air holidays must hold a licence
from the CAA. If a licence holder fails, the CAA is responsible for
ensuring customers are either repatriated to the UK or receive a refund
of payments made.
Repatriation costs and refunds are met by the Air Travel Trust Fund, the
funds of which come from a £1 per person contribution, called the ATOL
Protection Contribution, each licence holder is required to make when it
accepts a booking under its ATOL. In some circumstances a licence holder
will have also provided a bond, which is used in the first instance to
protect customers.
In the year to March 2008, ATOL enabled over 2,000 customers of failed
tour operators to complete their holidays and return to the UK and
21,000 received a refund of advance payments. For the year, total
expenditure on repatriations and refunds was £7.5 million.
Further information about ATOL is available on the ATOL website at
www.atol.org.uk.
The CAA is the UK's specialist aviation regulator. Its activities
include: making sure that the aviation industry meets the highest
technical and operational safety standards; preventing holidaymakers
from being stranded abroad or losing money because of tour operator
insolvency; planning and regulating all UK airspace; and regulating
airports, air traffic services and airlines and providing advice on
aviation policy from an economic standpoint.