Schools and the Package Travel Directive
If you are a teacher who usually arranges your school trips directly – directly booking flights, accommodation and transfers on behalf of your students, and then selling that trip to students on behalf of your school you need to be aware of the new 2018 Package Travel Regulations, applied from 1st July 2018.
The growth in travel arrangements that fall outside the legal definition of a package holiday has resulted in many customers travelling without the benefit of financial protection. For schools, this unfortunatley means many teachers are unwittingly putting their students (and schools) at risk.
On this matter, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said; “If you book a flight-inclusive package with a tour operator, the package is required to be ATOL protected by EU and UK law.
“If a school puts together the components of a trip and takes payment from pupils (essentially creating a package holiday for its pupils), it is likely to be exempt from needing to hold an ATOL itself. This is because the EU directive on package travel and linked travel arrangements (EU Directive 2015/2302) excludes from its scope of protection trips that are offered or facilitated on an occasional or not-for-profit basis and only to a limited group of travellers. Therefore, if a school can satisfy these conditions, it can organise and sell its own trips to its pupils without ATOL protection. Nevertheless, it will will need to consider the risks in doing so and take our appropriate insurance policies etc.”
“We recommend that schools book flight-inclusive trips through an ATOL holder so that pupils are protected by the ATOL scheme.” – Civil Aviation Authority
Their full advice can be found here: https://www.caa.co.uk/ATOL-protection/Consumers/Guidance-for-the-education-sector/
A summary of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 — package travel and linked travel arrangements can be found here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/LSU/?uri=CELEX%3A32015L2302&qid=1529931942475
Our ATOL, under Travelbee, Arctic Direct – can be found here: http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/TRAVELBEE_ATOL
Whatever trip you are booking for your students, book with a trusted ATOL protected agent.
Image credit: https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/features/abta-explains-the-new-linked-travel-arrangement-11609