Jet2holidays, considered the largest holder of ATOL, appears to be bringing in more bookings for this season’s summer than its rival, TUI.
Jet2holidays (6.7 million), Tui (5.8 million), Loveholidays (4 million), Booking.com (2.3 million) and easyJet Holidays (2.2 million) remain the current top five licence holders followed by On the Beach, British Airways Holidays, BravoNext, Marella Cruises and Travel Republic.
A total of 1,630 businesses are currently licensed under the Atol scheme following the March renewal round.
Of the 668 licences that expired at the end of March, 615 have been renewed, with a further 20 still in the application process or yet to meet licence conditions. Thirty three did not apply.
The regulator issued a reminder to travel businesses that they should apply to renew their Atol “well in advance” of the deadline because of the time required to analyse and process applications, and for the applicant to put any required conditions in place.
CAA head of Atol Michael Budge said: “Companies renewing their licence in March forecast that passenger demand will continue to grow over the next 12 months as the impact of the pandemic continues to recede. Holidays remain a high priority for consumers, yet households face continued pressure on their budgets. We will continue to pay close attention to operator’s booking profiles and in particular the bookings for the popular summer departure period.”
He added: “As package holidays continue to grow in popularity with UK consumers, it is important consumers do their research before booking, use our website to check their holiday company is an Atol licensed tour operator and book an ATOL protected package holiday.”
