'Tailored support package' required for travel, MP tells agent

Antrobus emailed her local MP Hunt as part of Abta’s Save Future Travel campaign, launched on Tuesday (7 April), which Abta said on Wednesday (8 April) reached 647 of the UK’s 650 MPs in just 24 hours and prompted supporters, both inside and outside the industry, to fire off in excess of 13,500 emails.

The campaign is calling on government to amend the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs), in line with guidance from the European Commission, to allow travel companies to offer interim credit notes instead of refunds to preserve cash flow and prevent mass failures amid the coronavirus crisis.

Abta is leading calls and has updated its guidance to members to pursue this approach, calling for the 14-day refund window under the PTRs to be extended, initially, to 31 July. These credit notes would retain the same protection as the original booking, and would be able to be converted into a full cash refund at a later date.