Air London, the world's largest corporate charter broker, has called on the UK Civil Aviation Authority not to bow to pressure from other members of the charter broker community to exempt corporate aircraft from the new air travel organiser's license (ATOL) regulations.
The regulations, commonly associated with airline travel, were introduced in 1997 to protect corporate aircraft travellers in the event of a broker or intermediary going out of business. Under the rule, brokers are ordered to pay a percentage of their annual turnover into a bonding scheme (about 10% of the business to business revenues or 2.5% of the travel agent to business revenues), expected to cover any financial loss incurred by the traveller. "These clients are paying large sums of money for the service and there is no protection for them," says Air London's managing director Alan Marler.
According to Gatwick-based Air London, the majority of brokers have so far failed to comply with the regulations, blaming their inability to raise sufficient finance as the reason. The company fears that the CAA is coming under increasing pressure from lobbyists to exempt aircraft with 19 seats or fewer from the licence.
"The UK corporate charter sector is worth well in excess of £100 million [$160 million] and one failure could easily lose £100,000 of a client's money. These clients deserve watertight protection," adds Savile. The CAA declined to comment.
Source: Flight International