Do I need an ATOL For My Travel Business?

If you're just starting up your travel business or you're considering expanding your existing repertoire, there are a few legal and financial protection requirements that you may be considering. Under the Package Travel Regulations, one of the legally required forms of financial protection for a select group of travel businesses is an Air Travel Organisers' License (ATOL). Before you begin the process of applying for your first ATOL, however, or renewing a pre-existing one, it's important to know if you need an ATOL and what type you need if you do.

The Air Travel Organisers' License (ATOL) is a required form of financial and consumer protection provided by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). In order for a travel business to be compliant with the Package Travel Regulations, an ATOL is required if they meet certain criteria, these criteria are as follows:

• The business in question is based in the UK - this does not necessarily mean the business is run from the UK, but it is legally registered as a UK business. For example, you may be a UK citizen running your travel business solo as a UK business, but you may live and/or work remotely abroad.
• The business in question is selling flights - these must be flights sold by your business, if you are selling a package including a flight that is organised by another business, they may require an ATOL to sell the flight as part of the package, but you may not.
• The business in question is selling flights as part of a package - there are some specific circumstances in which a business selling only flights are required to have an ATOL, however, for the majority of cases, an ATOL is only required if you are selling flights as part of a package holiday.

Under these circumstances, it is most likely that your business requires an ATOL. If you are a UK business selling flights as part of a package holiday, looking into the types of ATOL available is the next step to determining for certain if you need an ATOL and what kind you need if you do (you can find out more about the different types of ATOL that the CAA offer through the link below).

If you are not selling flights, regardless of if you are selling package holidays and you are a UK business, then an ATOL is not required. It is also important to be aware that if you start your travel business and are not selling flights, but later down the line you begin selling flights, you will be required to acquire an ATOL. This works in the reverse as well, if you have an ATOL to sell flights and then transition to no longer selling flights, you simply do not need to renew your ATOL.

For some start-up businesses or businesses considering selling flights for the first time, this can be a daunting task to face. ATOL is a legal requirement, but it does not have to be a complicated or stressful application process. If you are a member of Protected Trust Services (PTS) or currently in the process of becoming a PTS member, the ATOL experts at PTS are here to help you, whether you apply for your ATOL through PTS directly or you just need help applying with the CAA, so you know your business is ready to grow and thrive and you can focus on selling the holidays you love.

So, if you’d like to learn more about acquiring your ATOL with Protected Trust Services (PTS) and how we support excellent travel businesses, check out our pages. Or you can get in touch with the lovely PTS team by calling 0207 190 9988 or emailing us at [email protected].