Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) is a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) scheme to give financial protection to people who have purchased package holidays and flights from a member tour operator.
The majority of UK tour operators are required to hold an ATOL licence, without which they may not legally sell air travel. ATOL-licensed firms will have had their business practices inspected by the CAA. An ATOL licensed tour operator must also obtain insurance bonds from the CAA. The aim of this is to provide refunds to travellers affected by any event which causes the airline to be unable to provide travel for its customers, and to arrange for flights (in addition to accommodation and other items which may be included in a package holiday) to return home those already abroad at the time.
In the 1960s, voluntary organisations such as the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) provided a degree of financial protection for air travellers. In 1970, the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) (then the Tour Operators Study Group) introduced a bonding scheme whereby their members had to obtain bonds to the value of 5% of their annual turnover. In 1972, ABTA followed suit.
The Civil Aviation Act 1971 established the CAA. Covered under this act was the creation of the original ATOL Regulations. These mandated that all tour operators whose primary mode of transport was by air (but not airlines themselves), must hold an ATOL licence. These regulations came into effect in 1973.
On 15 August 1974, the Court Line group collapsed. It was the second largest tour operator at the time and its subsidiaries included Clarksons Holidays, Horizon, and Medvillas. Clarksons Holidays held an ATOL licence and was therefore theoretically covered by its insurance bond.
Although the 35,000 customers stranded abroad were successfully repatriated under the scheme, there were insufficient funds for the 100,000 people whose holidays had been paid for in advance. This was a blow to consumer confidence and led to considerable media attention. [1] A government fund called the Air Travel Trust has since been introduced to pay for any excess which is not covered by ATOL.
On 23 September 2019 Thomas Cook went into compulsory liquidation, sparking the largest peacetime repatriation in the UK's history. With Thomas Cook being ATOL-protected, the Civil Aviation Authority set about repatriating more than 150,000 British holidaymakers. [2]
First Choice Airways Limited was a British charter airline of European tour operator TUI Travel plc, based in Crawley, England until its merger with Thomsonfly to form Thomson Airways in 2008. It flew to more than 60 destinations worldwide from 14 UK and Irish airports. 70% of the airline's services were operated for its parent company, rising to 85% in the summer season, with the remainder on behalf of some 120 other tour operators. It also operated scheduled year-round leisure routes to Cyprus and the resorts of Spain and Portugal.
Monarch Airlines, simply known as Monarch, was a British charter and scheduled airline founded by Bill Hodgson and Don Peacock and financed by the Swiss Sergio Mantegazza family. The company later became a low-cost airline in 2004 before abandoning charter flying completely. The airline's headquarters were based at London–Luton, and it had operating bases at Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, London–Gatwick and Manchester.
Court Line was a 20th-century British tramp shipping company that was founded in 1905. In the 1960s it diversified into shipbuilding and charter aviation. Its merchant shipping interests were based in London. Its shipyards were at Appledore in Devon and Sunderland in Tyne and Wear. Its airline was based at Luton Airport in Bedfordshire. It also provided bus services in Luton and surrounding areas.
Thomas Cook Airlines Limited was a British charter and scheduled airline headquartered in Manchester, England. It was founded in 2007 from the merger of Thomas Cook Group and MyTravel Group, and was part of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines. It served leisure destinations worldwide from its main bases at Manchester Airport and Gatwick Airport on a scheduled and charter basis. It also operated services from eight other bases around the United Kingdom. Thomas Cook Group and all UK entities including Thomas Cook Airlines entered compulsory liquidation on 23 September 2019.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the statutory corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. Its areas of responsibility include:
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Thomas Cook Tourism (UK) Company Limited, known as Thomas Cook UK, is an Anglo-Chinese package holiday provider which offers 'Flight + Hotel' packages and Hotel only bookings. The company was launched in 2019, when Chinese firm Fosun International purchased the brand from the insolvent Thomas Cook Group, and began trading in September 2020.