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Monday, 15th September 2008

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Operation XL – the biggest ever airlift to bring 22,000 home

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Published Date: 15 September 2008

By MICHAEL HOWIE

THE largest ever airlift of British
holidaymakers stranded by a collapsed travel company was in full swing last
night, as nearly 100 emergency flights were put in place to bring 22,000 people
home.

The Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA) organised the repatriation of more than one quarter of the
85,000 holidaymakers who booked their foreign breaks through XL Leisure, which
went bust on Friday.

As another 200,000 Britons saw their holiday

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plans ruined by the collapse of the UK's
third-largest tour operator, the CAA insisted the "95 per cent" of those
currently overseas would be returned home on the day their holidays were
scheduled to end.

Some 94 flights were in place to return anxious
holidaymakers up until this Friday. The destinations include Spain, the Greek
islands, Turkey, Sardinia, Portugal, Egypt, Grenada and
Florida.

Meanwhile, fears for the future of the travel industry grew
yesterday. The Italian government held emergency talks over a plan to save
Alitalia, as the bankrupt national airline risked having to ground flights for
lack of fuel.

A second British tour operator also collapsed. The CAA said
K&S Travel informed them it had ceased trading on Saturday night, leaving
150 passengers in Bodrum, Turkey, requiring alternative flights. A flight
containing Scottish holidaymakers from Larnaca, Cyprus, who flew out of Glasgow,
was also due to arrive at Gatwick last night.

The passengers were
expected to be then taken north by bus. Another flight from Tenerife returned
Scottish holidaymakers on Friday via Manchester.

In an unprecedented show
of industry co-operation, a string of airlines providing aircraft to carry out
the airlift, including BA, bmi, British Midland, First Choice Airways, Jet2.com,
Monarch Airlines, Thomsonfly and Virgin Atlantic.

Holidaymakers who
booked package breaks through XL will be fully compensated, but about 10,000
people who paid for flights only through the company will have to make their own
way home. To ease the financial burden, the CAA and several airlines are
offering cheap fares for those not protected by Air Travel Organisers' Licensing
(Atol) cover.

Richard Jackson, CAA director of consumer protection, said:
"The CAA, with extensive help from the travel trade, has been working very hard
to look after XL's customers.

"Our immediate challenge has been to
repatriate holidaymakers due home in the days immediately following the
company's collapse. We are also working to ensure the timely return of those who
are continuing their holidays over the next couple of weeks.

"No-one who
is an Atol-protected customer should feel stranded. Whilst we've had some
problems, including adverse weather conditions in the Caribbean making it
difficult to position replacement aircraft, all customers will be able to return
from their holidays, and as close to their planned flight times as
possible.

"This is a massive logistical exercise, and its cost will be
covered by the CAA's Atol funding arrangements."

Meanwhile, it emerged
that the former auditor of XL warned of "financial irregularities" at the firm
almost two years ago.

In a strongly worded resignation letter,
accountancy firm KPMG claimed it was blocked from investigating alleged
misrepresentations by company directors that could have resulted in "material
errors" in financial statements.

The full article contains 537 words and
appears in The Scotsman newspaper.

Page 1 of 1

Last Updated: 14 September 2008 11:36 PM

Source: The Scotsman

Location: Edinburgh

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1

Trams, prams, jams & bams,
15/09/2008 00:17:17

The Government has learned nothing about corporate
governance, even since the collapse of Enron.

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