Why ash is a long-term travel threat (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Why ash is a long-term travel threat

1:45pm Wednesday 5th May 2010 in Holiday News

The Icelandic volcano fiasco poses a serious threat to the travel industry which could last through 2010 and may cause some travel firms to fail, according to industry experts.

Noel Josephides, a member of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO), which represents smaller operators, says: “The big question is what it has done to dent public confidence in flying.

“If people who planned holidays in June/July decide to defer bookings in case the volcano causes more trouble, then losses from unsold flights and hotel accommodation could be critical.”

A further threat is the rumoured £250 million compensation bill which may be sought by many of the 180,000-plus Britons who were delayed around the world and forced to pay their own way.

There is an assumption among travel firms that the Government will have to foot part of the bill – because its decision sparked the crisis.

Mr Josephides, who runs Sunvil Holidays, said car-hire firms charged his firm £1,000 for each car hired to get stranded passengers from Turin to Calais.

Sunvil, he estimates, spent around £30,000 on getting customers home from Portugal, Greece and the Azores.

Also, major firms such as Thomson and Thomas Cook clearly made huge efforts to get customers home by alternative methods of travel.

Thomson, in a major media campaign, claims it booked more than 100,000 hotel nights, arranged more than 235 emergency flights and sent three cruise ships to rescue 4,000 passengers.

With 50,000 customers stranded, Thomas Cook used the earlier opening of Glasgow and Newcastle airports to send rescue flights to Mexico, Crete, Egypt and Lanzarote.

Also, Thomson, First Choice, Thomas Cook and Co-op Travel paid for the fuel to send a new cruise liner, the £500 million Celebrity Eclipse, to Bilbao to bring home 2,000 stranded passengers.

“While the two biggest travel firms have done things properly, I don’t think all tour operators responded in the same way, and the travel industry has not come out of this particularly well”, says Mr Josephides.

As the ash clears, it is also becoming clear this crisis is far from over.

Massive compensation claims threaten the future of some companies, and a big switch to no-fly holidays could cause further problems later in the summer.

When you book, check the level of protection for your money and the bonding system which guards your cash before your departure.

Also, think about buying better-quality travel insurance and paying extra upfront to reduce the impact of excesses on any subsequent claims.

Jeremy Gates