Travellers face 50p levy to fund cover for failing airlines

AIR passengers could be forced to pay up to 50p extra per ticket to fund flights home for those left stranded if another airline goes bust.

The Department for Transport yesterday published the results of a review set up in the wake of the Monarch Airlines collapse in October 2017.

That triggered the largest peacetime repatriation of civilians, as 85,000 passengers were flown back to the UK, leaving taxpayers with a £40.5million bill.

A string of other operators have collapsed since then, including FlyBMI, Iceland’s Wow Air, and India’s Jet Airways.

The Airline Insolvency Review yesterday laid out plans for a ‘Flight Protection Scheme’ that will be funded by airlines through a levy on travellers.

Review chairman Peter Bucks said: ‘Passengers expect to be protected from being stranded overseas, but in practice, each year many people fly without any such protection.’

The report said it would amount to less than 50p per person on average, to be charged on each return flight originating from the UK. It is expected to generate around £35million a year.

But airlines hit out at the plans, warning the tax would be an unacceptable new burden on passengers.

BA’s owner IAG said: ‘Passengers should not be charged a levy to bail out other carriers when they go bust.’

Airlines UK, which represents all the main carriers, said travellers already pay more than £3billion a year in Air Passenger Duty.

Chief executive Tim Alderslade said airlines are operating on ‘wafer thin margins’. He added: ‘This is not the time to make it more expensive to travel.’

But the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) welcomed the plans. It said: ‘The review has recognised that there is a gap in consumer protection when an airline goes out of business.’

The report also recommended allowing an insolvent airline to continue using its planes to bring passengers home.

‘Wafer thin margins’