Operators vow to beat ash chaos (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Operators vow to beat ash chaos

9:36am Monday 24th May 2010 in Holiday News

As eruptions from the Icelandic volcano continue to blight travel plans for thousands, leading operators are devising new packages intended to restore confidence in short-haul travel around Europe.

Thomson, one of the big two travel groups, has launched an ‘Ash Guarantee’ to assure potential customers they won’t be out of pocket if Eyjafjallajokull continues to boil over for months to come.

The move comes as travel insurers take a harder stance on the problem: Aviva (Norwich Union) reckons volcanic ash is not an “insurable peril” and will offer only limited cover to stranded travellers as a “goodwill gesture”.

Launched this week, Thomson’s Ash Guarantee promises its 18,000 staff are dedicated to getting customers home or out on holiday as quickly as possible.

The company will cover any costs if customers have to stay on overseas, making insurance claims unnecessary, and if a holiday is cancelled due to the ash, Thomson will either help customers find another deal on a later holiday or offer a full refund.

Meanwhile, online travel company lowcostholidays.com promises 100 per cent refunds to customers who cannot travel on the outbound leg of their journey due to airspace closures.

Paul Evans, lowcostholidays.com chief executive, says: “The entire UK travel industry is operating in unprecedented circumstances. With the ash cloud continuing to cause disruption, we want to reassure all our customers that we will issue a 100 per cent refund if their outbound flight is completely cancelled as a direct result of the ash cloud.”

However, lowcostholidays says repatriation costs for its customers will be down to airlines and insurance companies.