ProtectMyHoliday.com, the consumer financial failure website for the travel market, announce a sharp increase in demand for protection against the failure of established ‘Legacy’ Carriers.
Taking a snapshot of their risk exposure on the 17th August 2009, British Airways came top with over 20% of the Total Sum Insured against the airline, second was Virgin Atlantic with 12% and third was Jet 2 with 11% of the total volume.
‘Historically demand has been highest for budget airlines and lesser known carriers’, stated Michael Ward, Sales and Marketing Manager at International Passenger Protection Limited (IPP), the leaders in providing financial insurance to the travel industry and parent company of ProtectMyHoliday.com.
‘The figures do not suggest or indicate that an airline might be in trouble, plus important factors like volume of ticket sales need to be taken into account, however at the start of the year someone booking with a legacy or blue chip airline would be unlikely to have felt the need for protection whereas now the general public’s perception is that any airline or travel supplier may fail’ continued Ward.
‘Certainly the well documented difficulties at BA and general poor performances in this sector has changed public thinking about financial protection, especially when combined with the massive struggle facing the CAA to get the ATOL into the black after massive losses last year’, stated Ward.
ProtectMyHoliday.com allows travellers to financially protect themselves against the unbounded elements of their trip including (but not limited to) Airlines, Accommodation Suppliers, Car Hire Companies, Excursion Providers, Eurostar, Ferry Operators, Villa Owners, Theme Parks, and much more.
The top 10 airlines on risk by exposure size on protectmyholiday.com on 17/08/2009 were:
- British Airways 21%
- Virgin Atlantic 12%
- Jet 2 11%
- Monarch Airlines 6%
- Continental Airlines 6%
- Easyjet 5%
- Thomas Cook Airlines 5%
- Qantas Airways 4%
- Cathay Pacific 4%
- Air New Zealand 4%
(rest 22%)
IPP’s advice is for consumers to ensure that their trip is protected through one of the following means:
- Specialist cover : dedicated insurance products such as www.protectmyholiday.com, where consumers can obtain specialist financial protection for as little as £5 per person
- Retail travel insurance : many quality retail travel insurance policies now have cover included as standard – double check the cover
- Travel Agents : some Travel Agents have arranged insurance for all of their flights so that they will re-book passengers in the event of a collapse.
- ATOL : applicable when a flight ticket is brought in conjunction with another component part of the holiday from the same holiday company. The holiday company being booked with must either hold an ATOL or be an agent of a company that does, in which case it must tell the customer when they book which ATOL they are protected by, and as soon as money is exchanged, issue an ATOL Receipt to the customer.
