Scots holiday chaos as travel firm folds
Hundreds of Scots holidaymakers are understood to be stranded abroad after a budget tour operator collapsed with its owner blaming the Government’s failure to bail out airlines following the volcanic ash cloud crisis.
About 13,000 Kiss Flights customers from across the UK were unable to return home after the firm ceased trading at 5pm yesterday.
Gatwick-based Kiss flew between Glasgow and Spain, the Canary Islands, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey and between Edinburgh and Corfu, Crete and Rhodes, along with Gatwick, Manchester and other UK airports.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it would be “picking up the pieces” to ensure people got home.
Chief executive Gary Ash said the UK Government’s refusal to help after the Eyjafjallajokull eruption that cost airlines more than £1 billion in the spring, when it shut UK and European airports, was partly to blame.
Mr Ash said: “I am absolutely devastated by this unfortunate turn of events. Over the past nine months we have been fighting in a very difficult travel market.
“The effect of the volcanic ash was devastating, when the banks were in trouble the Government bailed them out but when the tour operators had to cope with the enforced closure of the skies and the expensive cost of repatriation it would not help.”
The CAA said the “vast majority” of the 60,000 people with future Kiss bookings would be refunded, as it is covered by the Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing scheme (Atol) scheme.
Flyglobespan, Scotland’s largest airline, went into administration in December, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and the loss of 800 jobs. It emerged that it was owed £35m by credit card services company E-Clear. Last week, holiday firm Sun4U collapsed, leaving 1200 holidaymakers stranded abroad. (heraldscotland.com)
CIAO
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Hundreds of Scots holidaymakers are understood to be stranded abroad after a budget tour operator collapsed with its owner blaming the Government’s failure to bail out airlines following the volcanic ash cloud crisis.
About 13,000 Kiss Flights customers from across the UK were unable to return home after the firm ceased trading at 5pm yesterday.
Gatwick-based Kiss flew between Glasgow and Spain, the Canary Islands, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey and between Edinburgh and Corfu, Crete and Rhodes, along with Gatwick, Manchester and other UK airports.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it would be “picking up the pieces” to ensure people got home.
Chief executive Gary Ash said the UK Government’s refusal to help after the Eyjafjallajokull eruption that cost airlines more than £1 billion in the spring, when it shut UK and European airports, was partly to blame.
Mr Ash said: “I am absolutely devastated by this unfortunate turn of events. Over the past nine months we have been fighting in a very difficult travel market.
“The effect of the volcanic ash was devastating, when the banks were in trouble the Government bailed them out but when the tour operators had to cope with the enforced closure of the skies and the expensive cost of repatriation it would not help.”
The CAA said the “vast majority” of the 60,000 people with future Kiss bookings would be refunded, as it is covered by the Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing scheme (Atol) scheme.
Flyglobespan, Scotland’s largest airline, went into administration in December, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and the loss of 800 jobs. It emerged that it was owed £35m by credit card services company E-Clear. Last week, holiday firm Sun4U collapsed, leaving 1200 holidaymakers stranded abroad. (heraldscotland.com)
CIAO
_goa
