Atol holder total down 215 on 2020 Ian Taylor


The CAA stuck to the September 30 Atol renewals deadline despite receiving 217 licence applications – 22% of the total renewed or awaiting renewal – in the last 14 days. It granted 871 Atols by the


September 30 renewal date, more than 300 fewer than at the last pre- Covid renewal in October 2019. Of 1,133 Atols due for renewal, 144 holders chose not to apply – including 41 that no longer require an Atol to trade – and 118 applications remain outstanding. The renewals leave 1,517 Atol


holders in total, down from 1,732 a year ago. However, leading Atol holders


project passenger volumes in the next 12 months close to the level of October 2019. Tui UK is licensed to carry 5.1 million in the 12 months to September 2022, up from 3.7 million a year ago and close to its 5.5 million pre-Covid figure. Jet2holidays holds a licence for 3.75 million following the renewal compared with 3.5 million a year ago and 3.9 million in 2019. On the Beach has been more


cautious having been off sale for much of this year, with an Atol for 1.34 million compared with 1.65 million pre-Covid. But easyJet holidays is licensed


to sell up to 856,000 packages in the next 12 months, up from 547,000 in October 2020 and 794,000 at the same point in 2019.


Some agencies cut hours but others struggle to recruit


Juliet Dennis


Some travel agencies are asking staff to work reduced hours to avoid redundancies despite other firms turning to industry ‘match- making’ services to fill vacancies and meet improving demand. The end of furlough at the same


time as the relaxation of travel restrictions has created a mixed picture for staff across the trade. As the government announced


it was providing £500 million to get people back to work, agency consortia reported low levels of redundancies, with members instead


4 7 OCTOBER 2021


negotiating reduced hours for agents until cashflow improves. The Travel Network Group said


staff with “experience, knowledge and skills” could not be easily replaced. A spokeswoman said: “The


majority of our members are consulting with their staff about reducing their working hours temporarily rather than going down the redundancy route.” Similarly, Advantage Travel


Partnership said “lots” of members now had staff on “mutually-agreed reduced hours”, yet at the same time “a large number of members have vacancies they are struggling to fill”.


People will look at the body count – the reduction – but it’s not as dramatic as some suggest


A leading industry source said:


“The CAA has been reasonably pragmatic. People will look at the body count – the reduction in Atol numbers – but it’s not as dramatic as some suggest. The larger companies are what matter. The big unknown is how many companies will still come through and how many have a problem.” The CAA published the Air


Travel Trust report for the year to March 2020 to coincide with the renewals end. It confirmed Thomas Cook’s


failure in September 2019 cost more than £444 million and left the trust with only just over £20 million in March last year, down from £221 million a year earlier. This had risen to £45 million by last week, backed by a £75 million credit facility guaranteed by the government. A further three Atol holders failed


last week. London-based OTA News Travel, Greenland specialist Tangent Expeditions and Cardiff-based choir tour operator Melody Music Company all ceased trading after failing to have Atols renewed in March.


In the wake of furlough, some agents are being asked to work reduced hours to keep their jobs


“The long-term view largely


depends on booking volumes that members can put through over the next few months,” said leisure director Kelly Cookes. Polka Dot Travel is among those


recruiting and said it was getting applications from “experienced” industry staff thanks to a match- making scheme launched by Advantage, its consortium, as well as social media channels. Gold Medal parent dnata Travel


is also recruiting, after downsizing from 1,200 staff to 800 during the pandemic. Lobby group Target (Travel Agent Reform Group Engaged


Together) has been helping agents find work or fill vacancies via a jobs board on its Facebook page launched before furlough ended. It has already put up more than 150 job posts. Co-founder Graeme Brett,


owner of Westoe Travel, said: “We’re surprised how many vacancies are coming up. We just want to keep as many people in travel as we can.” The Leger Shearings Group,


meanwhile, has subcontracted Peakes Travel Elite staff remotely to make up reduced salaries and hours – and Holidaysplease has offered agencies the chance to ‘lend’ staff to work as homeworkers for six months.


travelweekly.co.uk


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