Thousands of Brits face holiday cancellations as major travel company collapses into administration after 25 years
HOLIDAYMAKERS could be left disappointed after a major travel operator plunged into administration.
Easter and summer trips could be at risk now that the firm has ceased to be covered under ATOL.
Jetline Travel has fallen into administration after providing cheap package holidays for 25 years.
The London-based company stopped trading as an ATOL holder in March.
It could mean the end for the firm after Alan Clark, of financial recovery specialist Carter Clark, and Neil Bennett, of restructuring and insolvency firm Leonard Curtis, were appointed on 28 March.
The company had been trading since 2000 and held an ATOL for nearly 5000 passengers.
Acting as a cruise holiday agency, the 800 forward bookings and 20 customers overseas could be cancelled.
According to Travel Weekly: “It is understood Jetline, which traded under multiple brands, had failed to pass on customer payments.
“It had been selling cruises both as a retailer and at net rates, making itself the principal on some bookings.”
The specialist media also claimed that an industry source with knowledge of the company described it as “doing a huge amount of business in the US”.
Jetline Travel Limited’s company pages on the Government website show the appointment of an administrator last month.
It also seems to have an outstanding charge code.
What does going into administration mean?
WHEN a company enters into administration, all control is passed to an appointed administrator.
The administrator has to leverage the company’s assets and business to repay creditors any outstanding debts.
Once a company enters administration, a “moratorium” is put in place which means no legal action can be taken against it.
Administrators write to your creditors and Companies House to say they’ve been appointed.
They try to stop the company from being liquidated (closing down), and if it can’t it pays as much of a company’s debts from its remaining assets.
The administrator has eight weeks to write a statement explaining what they plan to do to move the business forward.
This must be sent to creditors, employees and Companies House and invite them to approve or amend the plans at a meeting.
A Notice of Intention is used to inform concerning parties that a company intends to enter administration.
It is a physical document which is submitted to court, usually by directors aiming to prevent a company from being liquidated.
Like with a standard administration process, a Notice of Intention stops creditors from taking out any legal action over a company while they try and rectify the business.
Hundreds of thousands of people previously used the company for their holidays.
Two years ago, it recorded a transaction turnover of £28.1 million and an operating profit of £655,000.
When the company ceased trading as an ATOL holder, it is thought 5,000 customers were affected.
Several high-profile cruise bookings with operators like Princess, Cunard, and Holland America have since been cancelled due to a “breach of contract” with Jetline.
All bookings with P&O Cruises had been transferred to them as direct bookings.
The CAA has warned: “If you are currently overseas and you hold a scheduled flight e-ticket, the flight remains valid for the return journey.
“You are advised to check-in with the airline as per the existing flight ticket.”
Anyone with a flight inclusive package was also warned that while the flight may still be valid, other parts of the trips may not.
They added: “Other services have not been paid to the local suppliers and you will be required to re-arrange and pay for these services again.
“To avoid any issues in resort, you should confirm the cost of all the services in advance of travel where possible.”
Anyone who has a cruise-only trip booked, or one with just accommodation that doesn’t have flights included, are not protected under ATOL.
Furious passengers have said they were left without any information.
One person wrote: “Our holiday including cruise, flights and hotels appear to has gone. Totally unable to contact Jetline.”
Another said that they were told they had “48 hours to pay again” for the holiday or they would cancel it.
The CAA added: “We understand that Jetline Travel Ltd acted as agents for other ATOL holders, these bookings are not protected under the ATOL of Jetline Travel Ltd.”
A spokesperson from the Advantage Travel Partnership, which represents Jetline in the travel industry, told The Independent: “We are greatly saddened that Jetline Travel has ceased trading. They’ve been a valued member since 2015, and our thoughts are with the customers and staff affected.”
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.