Latest airline failure highlights consumer protection gap

Last week’s collapse of Lithuanian Airlines has highlighted the need for improved protection for air travel consumers, ABTA has stressed.

The airline, which operated service between Vilnius and Gatwick, is the 17th carrier that has failed in just over a year – following in the wake of Eos, LTE, MaxJet, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, Silverjet and XL Airways.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA’s chief executive, said: “This failure in a tough economic climate, along with numerous other airline failures who failed last year, highlights the importance of having financial protection in place when you book flights.”

The only passengers who are protected are those who booked their flights on flyLAL as part of a holiday package. Other customers may be out of pocket, as the airline has already said that it would not be able to provide refunds, according to ABTA.

ABTA has urged the government, on several occasions, to require that airlines provide their passengers with financial protection against failure. Scheduled airlines, including flyLAL, are not required to provide this type of protection.

Options available to air passengers who book their seats through an ABTA member are to buy the tickets as part of a package holiday or to take out an airline failure insurance policy if they purchase only the tickets.

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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