The Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) updated its lists of travel agent and tour operator licences on 23 June, with 165 travel agents and 27 tour operators then currently licensed. Five agencies ceased to trade due to the Covid-19 pandemic and two or three others decided not to re-new their licences in the spring round. It was expected that five or six more, who had licence renewals still pending, would be successful once outstanding paperwork could be extracted from their banks. One such licence, McGuill Travel of Dundalk, TA licence 0438, was subsequently renewed on 24 June.
On its website, the CAR states: “We are still reviewing applications from a number of other parties that have either applied for a licence or are opting to provide alternative insolvency protection arrangements. We will update our lists as we conclude these reviews.” ITTN understands that the CAR had hoped to complete the spring round before now and that it is assisting agents in obtaining information from banks.
Good news for consumers is that, in the next week or so, the CAR plans to update its website to be more consumer-friendly and to include an easy-to-use search facility.
