The Civil Aviation Authority – CAA – expects that two million of us will book holidays in January. But will our holidays be protected if the tour operator goes bust?

Tthe new user-friendly pages from the CAA provide advice before and during your flight as well as what to do if something isn’t up to scratch!

Heathrow airport has been ordered to pay a £500,000 penalty after an investigation revealed passenger queuing times at security checkpoints were longer than the London airport previously reported.

My apologies. This story is two-weeks old but I missed it. Mea culpa. A reader spotted a press release on the Ryanair website and it really is just too good not to share with you.

t seemed quite simple when I got up this morning. Flights into Scottish airports would be disrupted due to the ash cloud emanating from the Icelandic volcano we can pronounce, Grimsvotn, and spread southwards.
Except that isn’t what’s happening. Some airlines are flying and some have been advised (“ordered” seems to be the real meaning of the word for Ryanair by the Irish Aviation Authority) not to.

For longer than I care to remember, CD-Traveller has covered complaints, suggestions, conversations and proposals about reform the bonding system we have in place to help those who, through no fault of their own, are left in the wet and sticky when their tour operator or holiday company goes bust.

There are lots of websites that will give snapshots of what happens based on a few thousand examples. When it comes to assessing how punctual airlines were last year we have the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) figures as analysed by www.flightontime.info. In this instance we are talking of thousands if not tens of thousands or in the case of BA, nearly a quarter of a million flights.

For the past 40 years, it has been the Air Transport Users Council (AUC) that has been the body that has supposedly championed the rights of consumers. That has just been brought to an end. If you want to complain about an airline or an airport there is a new body to represent us.
Actually that’s not quite true. There are two new bodies but both still attached to the CAA, Civil Aviation Authority.

Last November and December there was snow. It caused untold disruption to travel and in particular to air travel. Airport after airport was closed, sometimes for short periods and, in the case of one large West London airport, for days. If it affected you then the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would like to hear from you.
Why?
Because they are running a two week online survey to see what you the traveler thought of it all. Were you kept informed? Were you told your rights? Did the problems cause you to see the best in the way that people responded to it.

As you all know by know, there is a bonding system for holidays called ATOL. To remind you, the idea behind it is that if you buy from someone who is ATOL bonded, your holiday should be covered in the event that the tour operator goes bust. You will get your money back (but it might take a while) but not a replacement holiday. The problem with the system is that if you book your accommodation and flight separately you may not be covered.

CD-Traveller (25 Sept. 2010) referred to a list of quangos that the government was planning to close, merge or retain. Yesterday the “official” list was published. Going through the list of hundreds affecting the holidaymaker and the traveller, we are not sure that we’ll notice much difference.

Over the last few years we have covered the different changes and requirements that have been introduced, ostensibly to make flying safer but which too often seem to make life more difficult and intrusive as well. Only recently there was comment from you about how passing through passport control seemed to take longer because the new passports require matching with computer held data whereas in the old days officers would compare your face with that in the passport. Imagine how much longer it might take if ear prints (supposedly as unique as finger prints) are incorporated as well.

What is the purpose of an airport regulator?
To make money? To manage the interests of our airports? Or the airlines? To control over-zealous ideas and practices? To make sure passengers fly safely?
I sometimes wonder.
Yesterday the Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, announced that he was giving additional powers to the Civil Aviation Authority. (CAA) But this time the power is to look out for the passenger. Hammond said, “…the CAA’s primary duty will be to promote the interests of existing and future passengers.”

With decent weather over much of our countries last weekend it looked as though things were set fare for a while. In the space of one week, we have had winds and heavy rain and then, to top it off, Goldtrail Holidays (which also used the name Sunmar) went bust yesterday evening leaving 16,000 abroad. Now it also seems that there may be a strike at all BAA airports (Heathrow, Stanstead, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen) during August.
CD-Traveller has frequently argued for wider consumer protection. In the wake of Globespan in 2009 and XL in 2008 (see CD-Traveller 14 Sept, 26 Nov, 17 Dec 2009), you might have hoped or expected that such high profile events might have stimulated some change. No, the EU prepared a document and sent it for consultation. The then government said it was an EU issue and we are no further forward. Yet we have had 11 cases of companies going bust this year.

Regular readers can stop reading right now if they don’t want to hear me talk again about providing an adequate safety net for passengers outside the ATOL bonding scheme.

As you probably all know by now, those passengers who bought a package holiday under the Globespan name are probably protected under the ATOL system. Those of you who bought just a flight with a credit card (not a debit card)and paid more than £100 may be able to claim a refund from the credit card providers. The rest of you, I’m afraid, will probably be out of pocket. And for those of you who are covered then you still have the hassle and probable expense of rebooking with another carrier if there is availability. To check your position, see www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1985&pagetype=90.

The collapse of the Globespan group will hit Scotland particularly badly.

Starting today, the EU will consult with the travel industry over the next 8 weeks before coming up with new proposals on giving greater protection to travellers.

From the website:

“The CAA is the UK’s independent specialist aviation regulator. Its activities include economic regulation, airspace policy, safety regulation and consumer protection.”

As the Summer holidays near, the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) has taken the opportunity of issueing revised guidelines on what you can and cannot take on an aircraft.If you book through a tour operator, they will have a copy of the leaflet that you can request.On the CAA website you can download a copy or [...]

When you see a press report about Ryanair, it usually makes good reading. Their Chief Executive, Michael O’Leary, is not known for bland language; some is more colourful than Gordon Ramsay’s so the announcement of his third quarter accounts is uasually not as boring as some that travel companies issue. Ryanair calls for the removal [...]