In reports from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) it was shown that the September ATOL renewals period had the highest turn out on renewals since September of 2020 at the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
The CAA renewed 923 ATOLs in September 2022 in comparison to the 871 renewals in September 2021. There are 60 applications still in the process of renewal following some late submissions for the September 30th deadline this year. This means that the total number of businesses that now hold an ATOL is 1579, down from 1618 in April this year.
1047 ATOLs failed to be renewed this September, with 63 of these coming from the travel business’s choice not to renew their ATOL this season. 13 of these were from travel businesses that no longer require an ATOL, 10 of these were businesses that submitted over 15 business days prior to the September 30th deadline, and 50 of these applications were submitted ‘late’.
The CAA noted an issue with businesses applying for ATOL renewals too close to the deadline and warned travel businesses to apply with plenty of time ahead of the March 2023 renewal period “because of the time required to analyse and process applications and put any required conditions in place”.
“Businesses that fail to allow reasonable time to apply by the deadline risk being unable to take ATOL-protected bookings,” the CAA stated in this reminder. The September renewals period is by far the largest of the two renewal periods, however.
The number of businesses in possession of an ATOL has seen a steady reduction over the course of the pandemic, following 1133 that expired in September 2021 and 1261 that expired in September 2020. In March of this year, 594 ATOLs were renewed of the 675 that expired. In September 2020, 176 holders failed to apply for a renewal on their ATOL and 144 didn’t apply for a renewal in September 2021.
Michael Budge, The CAA Head of ATOL, said, “Household budgets will be under pressure in the coming months, so it is more important than ever to ensure consumers enjoy Atol protection by booking with a licensed tour operator.”
“We’re pleased so many travel companies engaged with us as we considered their licence application. We will continue to work with businesses to maintain resilience as the travel industry expects bookings to get back to pre-pandemic levels.”
So, if you’d like to learn more about how your consumers’ monies are protected with Protected Trust Services (PTS) and how we support excellent travel businesses, check out our pages. Or you can get in touch with the lovely PTS team by calling 0207 190 9988 or emailing us at ask@protectedtrustservices.com.
