NEWS 1


The CAA says it will be lenient in the short term with firms taking steps to comply with new Atol rules


YOU NEED TO KNOW


AT A GLANCE The key Atol changes


ATOL REGULATIONS l Broaden ‘package’ definition and abolish Flight-Plus category of travel package l Introduce Linked Travel Arrangements in the UK’s Package Travel Regulations l Switch to ‘country of origin’ from ‘place of sale’ principle, allowing cross-border sales in European Economic Area (EEA) l Atol extended to ‘agent for the consumer’


CAA ‘won’t enforce’ July 1 Atol compliance deadline


Lee Hayhurst lee.hayhurst@travelweekly.co.uk


Travel firms will not face immediate enforcement action if they are not able to implement new Atol regulations by the July 1 deadline.


Last week, the CAA and Department for Transport (DfT) issued long-awaited consultations on Atol, giving the industry just a month to March 23 to respond. Andy Cohen, head of Atol at


regulator the CAA, conceded timescales to update the consumer protection scheme were “tight”. But he said the fundamentals of the change in law have been known since 2015 when the EU’s revised Package Travel Directive (PTD) was approved.


“What is a tight timescale is the mechanism to achieve the aims of the PTD,” he said. “Ideally we would have given the industry longer, but we are where we are. “With that in mind, we understand some firms may have difficulty fully implementing the regulations in that period. “But provided we see, in the


very short term, they are taking steps to implement those licence changes, we would not look to take enforcement action.” The proposed changes to Atol


include a broader definition of a package to cover what the UK has treated as Flight-Plus since the 2012 Atol reform. However, the government is


proposing to regulate Linked Travel Arrangements (LTAs), a new category introduced by the


4 travelweekly.co.uk 1 March 2018


“We realise some firms may have difficulty fully implementing the regulations in time”


revised PTD, separately to Atol. In an earlier consultation, the


travel sector overwhelmingly supported LTAs being covered by Atol, and government said it would consider how best to achieve this. Describing LTAs as “the unloved child” of the new PTD, travel lawyer Rhys Griffiths, partner at Fieldfisher, said concerns about the impact on Atol prompted the change of heart. He said: “The government is concerned that including LTAs in Atol will pollute the Atol brand because there is a marked difference in the protection provided.”


ATOL STANDARD TERMS l Stricter requirements on Atol information disclosure to consumers at point of sale l Small Business Atol reporting to be quarterly not annually l Atol-holders required to advise CAA of any change it should ‘reasonably know’ that impacts their financial resources l New ‘flight-only ticket fully paid’ exemption from Atol l EEA-based firms required to have a physical presence in the UK to qualify for Atol


David Bourne, CAA head of Atol policy and governance, accepted LTAs are “quite confusing” and “complicated”. He said: “Whether they are in Atol or not is not the issue. The real issue is they are going to be confusing in themselves. My understanding is this was a consumer-focused decision.” Chris Photi, senior partner at


White Hart Associates, said LTAs will be “a mess” and “impossible to police”. And he described measures to tighten rules for small businesses as “a step towards making travel the most-regulated industry in the UK”. Bourne disagreed. He said:


“We have quite a few measures in place to ease the burden on small businesses. We keep the regulatory


system proportionate.” › Special Report, page 12


PICTURE: ISTOCK


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88