ALL ABOUT YOU — LETTERS
PTD plan ‘disaster’ Story: Alarm at shift in Package Travel Directive We have already seen operators move overseas where the cost, and possibly the level of protection, is lower. The EU is promising to ensure protection levels are equal throughout Europe but we know that will never happen. From the UK’s perspective, any dilution of the Atol scheme would be a disaster. Customers cannot possibly hope to understand other financial protection schemes – they barely understand the need for an Atol Certificate now. The DfT needs to act now and tell the industry what it proposes to do with the existing scheme and why it makes sense for UK businesses to stay where they are. l Alan Bowen, AGB Associates
Flybe flies in Story: Details of new Flybe routes revealed It’s about time Bournemouth airport had more carriers. It opened a £45 million terminal [in 2010] but only has flights by Thomson and Rynair. Now we have a chance with Flybe. It is also disgusting that one has to pay to drop off passengers. It’s all
greed. I wait with bated breath to see how long Flybe stays at this wonderful airport! l C Shepherd
APD does damage Story: Ryanair calls on government to ‘axe the tax’ It beggars belief that the government still can’t see the damage this tax does and how much more the Exchequer would receive by scrapping it. I don’t trust Labour with the economy, but with the Tories also lacking in the basics of housekeeping, the issue of APD is a worry. l Keith
LGW ‘loses’ council Story: Gatwick unveils two-runway plan Gatwick has now lost the support of another local authority, West Sussex County Council, in whose boundaries it lies. The main [grievance]
was the lack of financial support for infrastructure that would be needed for two runways – ie the local community would be picking up the tab. Gatwick’s already big enough, now make it good enough. l Peter Barclay Travel Weekly would welcome a reply from Gatwick Airport Ltd
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Kuoni staff upbeat Story: Kuoni to exit the tour operating business
LETTER OF THE WEEK
As a long-standing employee of Kuoni Travel I think I speak for the majority of staff when I say the mood in the company is positive. I am sure there are some unhappy members of staff but this is to be expected in a big company – not everyone adapts to change well. We are not being sold due to poor sales figures; we
are being sold now as we are performing extremely well for the first time in several years. Many of the articles found online are misleading and factually incorrect. I would be lying if I said there were not things we could improve. I do not think we are as current or as creative as we have been in the past. That said, we have some fantastic people with levels of expertise that would be highly valued by many rival companies. I am certain we will appeal to several great investors. I just hope they build on our luxury/tailor-made reputation and do not try to make us compete with the low-cost companies who do so well in their respective markets. l Passionate Kuoni Staff
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editorial@travelweekly.co.uk Please write “For Letters Page” in the subject line. All correspondence must be accompanied by a name, job title and company address; these will be withheld on request. Please limit letters to 150 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for brevity and clarity. Other comments are taken from
Travelweekly.co.uk. The deadline is midday Monday.
Have you seen growth in demand for guided city tours?
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