Call to safeguard budget fliers

THE Government is under pressure to introduce a new scheme to protect air travellers against companies going bust.

In a House of Commons Transport committee report published today, MPS called for the introduction of a new protection scheme for fliers.

Currently customers who book a flight through a travel agent are covered by the existing Air Travel Organisers Licensing (ATOL) scheme. So if the airline went bust, it would be the responsibility of the travel agent to organise an alternative flight to bring customers home.

But people who book a flight directly with an airline have no protection under any existing scheme. The increasing popularity of low-cost air carriers such as Easyjet and Ryanair means a growing number of people are flying regularly without any form of protection.

The transport committee said it was important the Government brought in a comprehensive scheme to protect all UK air passengers, not least because airline collapses were likely to happen again.

The protection scheme proposed by the Committee could add up to £2 per passenger to the cost of a ticket.