New call for scheduled airline failure protection
05.08.08
A fresh call has been made to end a ‘two tier’ passenger protection situation which allows scheduled airlines to fly passengers without any financial safety net against failure, Travelmole reports. It comes as a UK aviation analyst suggests that as many as 50 European airlines face financial difficulty this winter, naming UK airlines such as Flybe, bmi and Monarch among the group.
The Air Travel Insolvency Protection Advisory Committee (ATIPAC), a body that advises the Civil Aviation Authority, highlighted the failure of business class airlines Silverjet, MAXjet and Eos in the last seven months. In its eighth annual report the committee said the failures demonstrated the ‘significant financial’ loss passengers can be exposed to in the event of an airline going out of business.
ATIPAC Chairman John Cox raised ‘significant concern’ over the lack of financial protection for air travellers booking direct with a scheduled airline. He said: ‘Airlines are not providing suitable protection and advice for their passengers. Information about financial protection is negligible and, in the event of an airline failing, passengers often have no choice but to pay their own repatriation costs.'
‘Those yet to travel will often have to pay for replacement flights or face losing the value of any pre-paid element of their holiday. Passengers travelling with an ATOL-protected tour operator face none of these risks and will be repatriated at no additional cost or receive a full refund if they have yet to travel, should their tour operator cease trading.'
‘This two-tier protection system must not be allowed to continue and the Committee reiterates its call for airlines to be brought into a financial protection scheme.’
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