From: jim.mason@spamtrappedukonline.co.uk   
      
   EUjet Failure   
      
   Date: 28 July 2005    
       
         
    Consumer Protection Group   
   Group Director's Office   
      
   28 July 2005   
      
   Letters to the Editor   
   The Independent   
   191 Marsh Wall   
   London   
   E14 9RS   
      
   Dear Sir   
      
   FOR PUBLICATION   
      
   Michael Harrison's Outlook column (28 July) stated that the CAA?s    
   proposal for a passenger protection levy would not have helped EUjet    
   customers as the airline was Irish-registered. This is not so; our    
   proposal would cover all air passengers departing the UK, whether the    
   airline was UK-registered or not.   
      
   He also suggested that credit cards provide customer refunds, but EUjet    
   was a low cost carrier and if you pay less than £100 by credit card    
   there is no statutory right to a refund. With debit cards there is no    
   statutory protection at all. It is also a misconception that travel    
   insurance is widely available to cover against airline failure: the vast    
   majority of policies do not provide such cover. In any case, passengers    
   abroad will still need to get home.   
      
   Although other airlines have offered special fares to fly stranded    
   holidaymakers home, such voluntary arrangements rely on goodwill, on    
   airlines operating similar routes, on seats being available, and on    
   passengers finding out about the arrangements. Under the ATOL scheme, if    
   a tour operator fails the CAA repatriates holidaymakers with minimum    
   disruption and at no additional cost.   
      
   The CAA?s proposal is for a simple, efficient and comprehensive    
   passenger protection system for all passengers. The public do not    
   generally have the ability to predict business failure and we consider a    
   £1 levy to be a positive answer in a sector where there have been more    
   than a dozen airline failures in Europe in the past 12 months.   
      
   Yours faithfully   
      
      
      
      
   Richard Jackson    
       
       
      
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