NEWS


ACE COMPETITION: Ten agents are currently exploring east Asia with T


ravel


Weekly editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley and Royal Caribbean China president Ben Bouldin, after winning the cruise line’s Fortune Awaits competition earlier this year. Their trip began in Shanghai, where they sampled Chinese cuisine, enjoyed a guided city tour and attended the men’s final of the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament. Their trip continued with a four-night cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas, which included a full day exploring the Japanese island of Okinawa and some downtime to make the most of the ship’s facilities. The cruise line launched the competition in partnership with T


ravel Weekly in July.


Bouldin (far right) is pictured with the winning agents on court at the Shanghai Masters.


Atol reform in question as trade in the dark over DfT’s intentions


Ian Taylor


Leading industry figures are divided on whether the Department for Transport (DfT) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will proceed with Atol reform more than four years after initiating the process. Fresh delays are expected due


to a new aviation minister taking over last month and news that CAA head of Atol Michael Budge will join Abta from December. Budge, who has led the Atol reform process since its launch in April 2021, will leave the CAA in mid-November. He is not the only departure. Ben


White, a well-known figure to the trade who oversaw Atol franchises and accredited bodies as well as trust and escrow arrangements, has also left after 27 years at the CAA and is now a director of the


travelweekly.co.uk


Air Travel Consultancy, part of the Assured Underwriting Group. Alan Bowen, advisor to the


Association of Atol Companies, said: “We were supposed to be getting something on Atol reform by the end of the year and now we’re running out of the year. Supposedly, the CAA was almost ready [to issue detailed reform proposals].” He asked: “Do we need


STORY TOP


reform? The system is working well. The Air Travel Trust is in a really healthy situation, but we do need reform for Atol


holders with their own airline.” Travel Trade Consultancy director


Martin Alcock said: “Atol reform has lost its importance. The Air Travel Trust is incredibly well-funded.” The trust’s latest accounts


reported the fund held £278 million at the end of June, above the previous record of £221 million in March 2019 ahead of the failure of Thomas Cook.


We were supposed


to be getting something on Atol reform by the end of the year and now we’re running out of the year


However, Alcock noted the


significance of Budge’s move, adding: “He leaves behind a scheme in a state of flux. There is a vacuum there. Michael was the main driver of policy decisions. Who will come in? Will it be a policy person or someone more commercial?” Asked whether he foresees the


Atol reform process moving forward, Abta director of legal services Simon Bunce said: “I have no idea.” But he added: “It has been very quiet. I’m not expecting anything.” Yet Chris Photi, partner and head of travel at White Hart


Associates, described Atol reform as “still ongoing” and suggested: “It could be far more advanced than we think. Something could be about to come out.” Indeed, a CAA source indicated


to Travel Weekly last month that something could happen before the end of the year. Another leading source noted


Atol reform “is not in the CAA’s control, it’s in the DfT’s, and the DfT has kicked it into the long grass”. A third source argued: “The


CAA hopes something is going to happen, if not fairly soon then in our lifetimes. But it’s out of their hands and the DfT is hellbent on airport expansion. It has gone as far as it’s going at this stage. “Until the CAA hears from the


DfT, it doesn’t know whether reform has been dropped or will be left on the books. Only the DfT can answer


that. Until then, it’s stuck in limbo.” i Analysis: Business, page 46


16 OCTOBER 2025 5


PICTURE: Lucy Huxley


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