§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will draw up guidelines on free-flight offers to cover(a) availability, (b) hidden costs and (c) the financial collapse of any party involved in the supply of the free flight.
§ Mr. Leigh[holding answer 2 December 1992]: No. The British code of sales promotion practice, administered by the Advertising Standards Authority, already contains guidelines covering both availability and hidden costs.
Trade associations, such as the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), require that their members have protection in place for the consumer in the event of insolvency.
Charter flight passengers are protected against financial loss by the existing air travel operators licensing (ATOL) scheme. In March 1992 the DTp announced that it would be setting up a statutory financial protection scheme to reimburse scheduled passengers in the event of an airline collapsing. The Government asked the CAA to work up details of a scheme and are currently considering its proposal.