A total of 1,182 Atols out of 1,283 that expired last month have been granted by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Fifty one companies did not apply for renewal in this round and 50 others have not yet been renewed.
Today’s announcement came after it was confirmed the deadline for the Atol renewals process would be extended by almost a month until October 25 following the collapse of Thomas Cook.
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This was to enable affected Atol holders and the regulator to focus resources on looking after customers, as well as “due consideration” of the licence holders applying for a renewal.
Some Atol holders’ applications had already been processed, however 344 had their licences extended to this date, the CAA said.
Under normal conditions, Atol holders that submitted their applications later than recommended would not benefit from an extension to their licence.
Following CAA advice during previous renewals periods, many applied to renew their Atol early, ensuring all necessary information was available at the time of submission.
Despite the extension to the ATOL renewals process, the deadline for submissions remained at September 30.
CAA head of Atol licensing operations Michael Budge said: “We would like to thank the travel industry for their support during this time.
“Given the unique circumstances, we have used this extension to process the outstanding applications and give due consideration to all Atol holders submitting their renewal applications. Our online renewal system also allowed us to efficiently approve applications from smaller companies even while we completed the two week repatriation programme.
“The circumstances surrounding the failure of Thomas Cook highlight the need to continue to focus on ensuring the appropriate protection of advance customer monies as well as Atol holders maintaining adequate liquidity, sufficient to meet future obligations.
“It is important that Atol holders continue to work closely with the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s Atol team, so that we can provide support where possible for the benefit of both the travel industry and consumers.”
Top ten Atol holders:
- Tui UK – 5.55 million
- Jet2holidays – 3.9 million
- On the Beach Travel – 1.6 million
- We Love Holidays – 1.3 million
- British Airways Holidays – 1 million
- Expedia Group – 874,208
- EasyJet Airline Company – 793,874
- BravoNext (lastminute.com) – 640,555
- Travel Republic – 555,060
- Virgin Holidays – 377,712
| ATOL Licences as of 30 Sept 2018 | ATOL Licences as of 25 October 2019 |
| 1,296 | 1,283 |
| Did not apply 2018 | Did not apply 2019 |
| 117 | 51 |
| Granted 2018 | Granted 2019 |
| 1,072 | 1,182 |
| Applied but not yet renewed – 1 October 2018 | Applied but not yet renewed – 26 October 2019 |
| 107 | 50 |