Package travel 'not under investigation' by the CMA

Travel industry lawyer Joanna Kolatsis, director at Themis Advisory, said the CMA “would come down pretty hard” on companies charging high cancellation or administration fees.

“If you’re not telling consumers proactively what their rights are, you’re going to have problems,” she warned during the seminar.

Kolatsis said there had to be a “degree of reasonableness” within refund policies and added that “12 months is not reasonable”.

“For consumers choosing these refunds, tell them how long it’s going to take to process that refund – whether it’s six weeks or three months – but you cannot say it’s going to take a year,” advised Kolatsis.

Abta is continuing to press its case with the UK government for a “temporary” amendment to the Package Travel Regulations as many travel companies struggle to make refunds to customers within the statutory 14-day period.

“It’s a pretty frustrating process that’s been going on since the beginning of the crisis,” admitted de Vial. “We still don’t know what the government is going to do on that.”

Abta’s chief executive Mark Tanzer was due to hold a ministerial meeting with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) on Friday (1 May) to discuss the issue.