Air Travel Operation Licensing Overhaul Receives Support from the UK Government

It now seems that British travelers will soon receive greater protection should an airline go bankrupt. Although these plans were just recently announced by the Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, it seems that they have just recently taken a step towards coming true after the government shared their support for the plan.

Apparently Lord Adonis wants an extension of financial protection to an estimated five million UK holidaymakers who travel by making their own travel arrangements. This kind of protection may make people less afraid to travel, which would be good news taking into account the trouble the travel market has been in lately due to the recession.

With the current system that is in place, only people who buy complete tour packages are covered by the Air Travel Operation Licensing scheme. Thus, the scheme does not protect people who buy their flights directly with the airline.

This new plan comes just after many airlines started to fall apart due to the recession. Such airlines as Zoom, XL, and Sliverjet have already gone under. Any passengers that happened to buy their airline tickets through these airlines, and not a tour operator, were forced to buy another return ticket home with another airline.

However, this new proposal would only cover certain elements. Although not everyone would be able to benefit from the overhaul, it would end up helping about five million UK travelers. Lord Adonis said that the ATOL scheme has remained a source of reassurance for travelers since it was drawn up in the 1970’s. However, since that time, there have been big changes in travel patterns, and the scheme needs to be changed to reflect that.