New calls for travel operator failure protection

The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) is calling for the funding of air traveller protection from a departure tax.

Travel Insurance News - 08/12/2008

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According to the association, the Irish government should commit one of every 10 euros collected from the new airport departure tax to pay for insurance that protects passengers against the failure of their travel company.

In the group’s submission to the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR), currently conducting a travel trade regulation review, the ITAA has also requested that the government take action against illegal travel operators.

The ITAA chief executive, Simon Nugent, is also urging the aviation regulator Cathal Guiomard, to reduce the amount of red tape that the travel trade has to deal with. Cuiomard is scheduled to present the regulatory review to the transport minister, Noel Dempsey, later in December.

“The most recent laws about regulation of the travel trade go back to 1982 - when the industry was a lot less complex than it is now - and these were brought in hurriedly after the collapse of an Irish travel operator,” Nugent said.

“These stated that all travel companies had to keep four per cent of their turnover ring-fenced for customers in case of collapse,” he added.

The ITAA is recommending that the four per cent be revised downward to two per cent or removed completely and replace with a universal protection scheme, using 10 per cent of the travel levy. According to Nugent, this amount would suffice to cover any eventual claims made by air travellers.

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