I thank the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, and the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, for their contributions and for the constructive way that they have approached the Bill. I am extremely grateful to them and I recognise the purpose of Amendment 1 —to ensure that ATOL protection covers flight-only bookings made through airlines—but the simple fact is that the proposed amendment would not achieve that aim.
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Let me explain further. Section 71(1B) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 acknowledges that airline operators are already subject to separate licensing requirements. The EC regulations on airline operating licences, which include safety and financial considerations, apply across the EU and its member states. Individual member states do not have discretion to impose additional requirements. As EU airlines are already licensed to carry fare-paying passengers, requiring airlines to obtain an ATOL for flight-only sales would be inconsistent with EU law. If the aim of the noble Lord and the noble Baroness is to bring airlines within the ATOL scheme, this amendment could not achieve that because airlines are exempt. The existing position reflects the requirements of EU law, and the UK is not able to extend ATOL protection to airlines without breaching EU law. Therefore, the provision to exempt airlines from ATOL would need to be retained in secondary legislation, even if this amendment were successful and Section 71(1B) were removed from the Civil Aviation Act 1982.
Alternatively, if the aim is to legislate against consumer detriment caused by potential future airline failures, I do not think that this Bill is the appropriate vehicle to achieve that. The current modernisations for the ATOL scheme in this Bill are, as we have discussed in separate conversations, driven by innovations in the way that holidays are sold by the travel market. They will also ensure that the scheme is aligned with the updated EU package travel directive 2015. The Government have followed the recognised process of reviewing, proposing, consulting and revising. Nevertheless, now and going forward, we shall give full consideration to how the Monarch failure happened and to what can be done to guard against that kind of issue happening again. We need to look at all the options, not just ATOL, but at whether it is possible to enable airlines to wind down in an orderly manner and look after their customers themselves without the need for the Government to step in. These are complex topics, and it is right that we explore them fully before legislating.
These and other topics will be explored in the forthcoming Green Paper on consumer protection to be issued as part of our aviation strategy, and I invite noble Lords to share their views in that process. The noble Lord, Lord Rosser, asked about the timescale. The Government’s initial consultation setting out the elements of the aviation strategy closed last Friday,
but he should not worry because we are coming on to the separate bits as well. We are now considering the responses and developing proposals. The final strategy will be published in 2018 and in the coming months we will seek views on consumer protection in the first paper. By following our tried-and-tested procedure of review, impact assessment and consultation, we feel confident that we can produce a robust proposal.
In summary, if the concern is that consumers who buy flight-only sales will not be protected should their airline go bust, the ATOL scheme does not extend to that type of sale. This amendment could not change the existing position for flight-only sales for the reasons I have just set out. However, we are reviewing consumer protection in the aviation sector as a whole through our aviation strategy, and it will take on board the lessons learned from Monarch, which is entirely consistent with the statements I made then. Therefore, I hope that the views I have given the noble Lord will allow him to withdraw the amendment.