NEWS APC despite failure ‘cleaning out’ ATT fund. Ian Taylor reports from a repatriation flight from Spain
Repatriated clients’ experiences ‘mixed’
Dame Deirdre Huton, chair of the CAA, accompanied 400 Tomas Cook customers on their return from Majorca to Manchester on Tuesday. Te Malaysia Airlines A380
an’ to raise APC
whether some have been reckless. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there
were to be some failures. Tere is no evidence yet of anything more widespread. But things could accumulate if we get a rolling Brexit.” Abta confirmed its Travel
there is a hit on the balances paid in September. Tese balances and commissions [to third-party agents] have been lost. Where the balance has not been paid, in most cases the tour operator will pay commission.” Some Cook agents also appear to
have collected balances on bookings with third-party operators early. Te source said that was “a concern for third-party operators” if they find a customer paid the balance early. Travel Weekly understands tour
operators which made credit available to Tomas Cook may have lost out as these sums would be outside Abta’s protection of pipeline monies. Te source said: “Te bigger the
retailer, the more they can say ‘you must give us credit.’ Cook had this as a condition of being racked. Operators have a choice. It’s too early to tell
travelweekly.co.uk
Convention will go ahead in Tokyo next week despite the fallout from the failure and the cancellation of upcoming conferences by Hays Travel and Midcounties Co-operative. Mark Tanzer, Abta chief
executive, said it was “too early” to say whether Cook’s collapse could bring down other companies, but he acknowledged: “Te impact will be felt by operators selling through Tomas Cook shops and right through the supply chain.” He dismissed suggestions that the
collapse could mark the end of the package holiday. Instead, he said “it demonstrates the value of a package holiday and the protection that goes with it. Te system has worked.”
How has Cook’s failure
affected your business? Email:
editorial@travelweekly.co.uk
service replaced seven cancelled Tomas Cook flights. Te CAA’s repatriation of 150,000 passengers will continue through to Sunday. Holidaymakers’ experiences
were mixed. Leah and Charlote of Warrington, away for the first time without their parents, said they were made to pay more than £1,000 to stay in their hotel – and borrowed money from their grandparents. Leah said: “Te hotel told us
‘pay £519 each today or you’ll be kicked out’. It was awful. Tey refused to speak to the CAA.” Charlote said: “We showed
them the Atol Certificate on our booking. Tey wouldn’t accept the CAA guarantee of payment.” Te pair were away for 10 nights
and Cook failed on the second day. Leah said: “Te hotel was all-inclusive, but we didn’t spend any time there aſter it happened.” By contrast, Michael Hall and
Denise Glendening of Newcastle enjoyed their 10-day holiday.
Michael said: “We were kept informed by text that we would get home on the day we were due to. It was all organised. I’ve been very impressed. We should have been on a flight to Newcastle, but they’ve said we’ll have a bus from Manchester.” Mark Lee and Gillian Young
of Barnsley booked for two weeks via On the Beach and were due to fly home with Ryanair, but were rebooked on Tomas Cook Airlines because of a strike. Mark said: “We were wondering what would happen to the flights. But it’s been straightforward.” Linda Lewis and Patricia
Law booked with Tui – only their flights were with Tomas Cook. Tey were also due to fly to East Midlands and were set for a two-hour taxi journey from Manchester instead. Linda said: “We would book Tui again, but not fly on another airline.” Huton told passengers:
“We know this was probably an unhappy experience on your holiday. I hope you’ve all had enough information.” She drew a round of applause, as did the Malaysia Airlines crew.
The CAA’s Deirdre Hutton (third right) poses with
Malaysia Airlines crew on a repatriation flight from Majorca on Tuesday
3 OCTOBER 2019
5
PICTURES: Simon Harvey Photography; Michael Penner; Shutterstock
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