Govt quashes travel's hopes of unified protection regime
Ilaria Grasso MacolaBringing together flight-inclusive (Atol) and flight-exclusive package protections under a single unique scheme is unlikely, despite calls from the travel industry, the government has intimated.
A spokesperson for the government’s Department for Business and Trade, which has oversight for reform of the Package Travel Regulations, told Abta’s Travel Law seminar on Wednesday (10 May) the ball was in travel’s court to encourage ministers to pursue a more joined-up approach.
"You will probably need to bring ourselves and the Department for Transport (DfT) together in order to make that actually happen,” assistant director for partnerships and international consumer team Craig Belsham told delegates. “[But] because of the separation of responsibilities, I don’t see that happening.”
Belsham’s remarks, which came during an update on the newly-created department’s progress reforming the PTRs, followed a warning from Abta director of public affairs Luke Petherbridge that the industry would likely face significant upheaval and strain owing to the volume of reforms currently being undertaken.
Belsham said the department was looking at a variety of changes to the PTRs, including deregulation of domestic packages. “We are likely to look closely in terms of domestic packages if there are things we can do to make the regulation more appropriate and proportionate,” he told delegates.
Civil servants, the seminar heard, will also look to reform insolvency protection measures, as well as simplify linked travel arrangements. Another aim is to understand better how Regulation 29, which gives travel organisers the right to redress from their suppliers, is working.
A consultation, said Belsham, is set to get under way shortly, even though the Retained EU Law Bill hasn’t yet progressed through parliament. The PTRs are one of hundreds of EU rules enshrined in UK law that could be retained, revoked or amended by the end of the year.
“Expect the consultation shortly,” Belsham added. “We are talking to ministers at the moment about how exactly they want that shaped."
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