Ian Taylor


Loveholidays eyes Europe expansion 2.45m


Loveholidays plans to expand beyond the UK and Ireland after being confirmed as the UK’s third-largest Atol holder this week. The online travel agent overtook


rival On the Beach as the UK number-three following the March Atol renewals which saw its licence increase by one-third on 2022 from 1.85 million passengers to 2.45 million. Loveholidays’ forecast carryings for the 12 months to March 2024 are almost 80% up on 2019, and the company said it’s “on track to more than double its passengers to three million” this year with the addition of its business in Ireland. Chief executive Donat Rétif is poised to announce expansion


elsewhere in Europe as soon as next month, with Germany understood to be the most likely target. He revealed plans to recruit 110 staff to enable the expansion. Retif told Travel Weekly he


expects to be operating in “four to five countries in two years” saying: “We think we can take our model to other countries. You can be sure we’ll continue to be aggressive.” He noted “Germany, Scandinavia,


Holland, Belgium” have “very similar parameters” to the UK and declared: “We have a vision to become Europe’s number-one package holiday provider.” However, he conceded


Loveholidays had a “difficult” pandemic. The company was one of several travel firms investigated by the


March Atol renewals anticipate strong growth in demand


Ian Taylor


The CAA’s March Atol renewals saw the long-term decline in licence-holder numbers arrested despite a fall in the number of renewals and a sharp increase in licensed passenger numbers among the largest Atol holders. The total number of Atol holders


stands at 1,619 compared with 1,618 in April 2022 after the CAA confirmed the renewal of 522 Atol licences at the end of March, down from 594 in March 2022 and 704 in March 2020 – with the difference made up by new licences. As recently


4 6 APRIL 2023


as September 2018, there were 1,732 Atol holders. A further 17 applications remain in the process of renewal. The CAA noted 42 licence holders did not apply to renew. Significantly, strong demand


saw the 10 largest Atol holders add almost two million seats since last October and more than 4.5 million since October 2019. The 2019 figures are distorted


by the fact that Thomas Cook went into liquidation in September 2019 holding a licence for just under 2.4 million passengers. This capacity has now clearly been replaced by the biggest Atol holders.


Retif acknowledged Loveholidays


Size of Loveholidays’ new Atol capacity, up 32% on last year


Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over refunds to customers after the CMA said it received “hundreds of complaints”. The company gave the CMA a


series of undertakings in December 2020, agreeing to refund more than £18 million to 44,000 customers by the end of March 2021. It also agreed to “report regularly to the CMA over the coming months” on the time taken for refunds.


“had challenges” during the pandemic, but said: “It started with the airlines. Some didn’t refund us. Some took time to do it. “Before Covid, we had 20,000


customer contacts a year to amend bookings. In the first year of Covid, we had 360,000. “The customer service department


we had couldn’t cope. So we tripled our investment in customer service, in technology and people.” He insisted: “We refunded


everybody, [and] if it happened again, we have the technology to handle it.” Loveholidays is majority-owned


by private equity firm Livingbridge following a deal in 2018 that valued the company at £180 million.


Michael Budge


By contrast, the next 10-largest


Atol holders appear cautious about the outlook, with licences collectively for 2.1 million holidays – 34,000 fewer than last October and 365,000 fewer than in October 2019. Jet2holidays (5.86 million)


overtook Tui (5.34 million) as the UK’s biggest tour operator in February when it increased its Atol by more than 500,000. Loveholidays (2.45 million) overtook rival On the Beach (2 million) as the third- largest Atol holder this week, and Booking. com (1.74 million) displaced easyJet holidays (1.3 million) as number five at this renewal.


However, Jet2holidays, Tui and


easyJet holidays are not due to renew their licences until September. CAA head of Atol Michael Budge


noted: “Companies renewing their licence in March anticipate passenger demand will grow over the next 12 months.” However, he suggested: “Households will continue to feel the squeeze in the coming months.” The CAA issued a reminder to


businesses to “renew their Atol well in advance” of the September deadline. The next March renewal could be the last under the existing Atol regime as the CAA seeks to introduce as-yet unspecified reforms from April 2024.


travelweekly.co.uk


PICTURE: Tim Anderson


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