Fewer operator failures and stronger bookings have boosted the Air Travel Trust (ATT) fund, which now stands at nearly £200 million.
The ATT pot increased to £185m at the end of the financial year to 31 March 2024, up from £116m the previous year. As of the end of June 2024, the fund had grown to £199m.
It’s the healthiest the ATT has been since before the Thomas Cook failure in September 2019, although the fund has no insurance policy against the collapse of a major ATOL company as it did before the pandemic.
The £2.50 per passenger ATOL Protection Contribution raised £75.4 million from 30.1m passengers, compared to £65.8m from 26.6m passengers in 2023. The amount generated from interest increased from £1m to almost £7m.
There were six ATOL failures in the last financial year, costing £4m. This compares to eight failures in the previous year. The biggest failure, Luxtripper, resulted in 75 passengers being repatriated after it ceased trading in October 2023.
The ATT said: “As of March 2024, ATOL-protected bookings were healthy. Forward booked passenger volumes were up 12% compared to 2019 and 11% compared to 2023.
“Following the significant increase in failures throughout the pandemic, the number and expected cost of ATOL holder failures continued to reduce this year.”
