The new Atol standings were revealed by the CAA on Monday (2 October) following the summer renewal window, with Jet2holidays now licensed to carry 6,716,305 Atol-protected passengers, up from 5,859,600 earlier this year – an increase of 856,705.
Tui UK has also significantly extended its capacity from 5,336,410 to 5,858,663, an additional 522,253 seats, although this rises to nearly 6.2 million with the addition of Tui-owned Marella Cruises’ 336,956 authorisations.
EasyJet holidays, though, is plotting the most extensive expansion for summer 2024 with the addition of just shy of one million seats, increasing its Atol by 980,720 authorisations from 1,294,465 seats to 2,275,185.
It raises the prospect of a highly competitive 12 months, with Jet2.com and Jet2holidays poised to launch flights from Liverpool airport, while easyJet will base aircraft at Birmingham airport for the first time.
While easyJet holidays’ growth cements its place as the UK’s third largest operator by Atol, it is not the third largest Atol holder, with that honour going to OTA loveholidays (2,677,030).
Booking.com is fourth with 2,387,509, followed by easyJet holidays. Sixth is On the Beach (2,002,065), seventh British Airways Holidays (1,049,294) and BravoNext (Lastminute.com) eighth (742,922). Marella is ninth, with Travel Republic (321,793) rounding out the top 10.
Reflecting on the latest renewals, the CAA has insisted demand for travel remains strong despite another drop in the total number of Atol licence holders.
As of the end of September, some 1,607 travel businesses are now licenced under the Atol scheme, according to the CAA.
However, of the 1,046 Atol licences that expired on 30 September 2023, 958 have been renewed and a further 26 are still in the application process or are yet to meet licence conditions.
On 31 March, there was a fall from 660 Atol licences that expired to 522, with a further 17 still going through the application process at the time.
Michael Budge, the UK CAA’s head of Atol, said: “Our licence holders seem to be confident that bookings will remain buoyant into 2024.
“It has been widely reported that travel bookings have picked up throughout 2023, and we anticipate the market getting back to pre-pandemic levels, despite the current cost-of-living crisis.”
