A total of 1,619 businesses in the travel sector are licensed under the ATOL scheme according to new figures released by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
The regulator, which oversees the financial protection scheme, has published the figures following its completion of the March 2023 ATOL licence renewal process.
Of the 660 ATOL licences that expired on 31 March 2023, 522 have been renewed, with a further 17 still in the application process or yet to meet licence conditions.
Jet2holidays, TUI, loveholidays, On the Beach and Booking.com make up the current top five licence holders. The latest top 10 ATOL holders report is available on the UK Civil Aviation Authority website.
Michael Budge, Head of ATOL at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said:
“Companies renewing their licence in March have revealed they anticipate passenger demand will continue to grow over the next 12 months and our latest figures seem to indicate that the travel sector is slowly moving in the right direction again.
“Household budgets will continue to feel the squeeze in the coming months, which means it is more important than ever for consumers to protect their package holiday by booking with an ATOL licensed tour operator.”
The UK Civil Aviation Authority reminds travel businesses that they should apply to renew their ATOL well in advance of the deadline because of the time required to analyse and process applications, and for the applicant to put any required conditions in place.
Businesses that fail to allow reasonable time to apply by the deadline risk being unable to take ATOL protected bookings.