ATOL enforcement

The CAA protects consumers through activities that are designed to improve compliance with aviation law and consumer protection legislation relating to the advertising and sales of flights and holidays. This includes the ATOL Regulations, the Contributions to the ATT Regulations and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.

In most cases we take an advisory approach towards enforcement but where shortcomings in compliance are found we are likely to take a more formal approach, which may lead to a person or business being prosecuted.

Our actions are guided by the ATOL and Consumer enforcement policies CAP1039 and CAP1018.

Advice

We can provide advice on the ATOL scheme and other regulations that apply to the advertising and sale of air travel such as:

• Advertising air travel
• Accepting bookings and payments from consumers
• Issuing correct documentation to consumers
• Applying for and maintaining an ATOL

Prevention of Fraud in Travel (PROFiT)

PROFiT is an organisation that works closely with UK police forces and various organisations within the travel industry to try to prevent fraud. It provides advice to both consumers and businesses. For more information visit: www.profit.uk.com.

Contact ATOL compliance

You can contact ATOL Compliance at ATOLCompliance@caa.co.uk.

We use information about alleged breaches in ATOL and relevant consumer law to gain a deeper understanding of how the air travel industry is working. Where appropriate, we may use the information to contact businesses to remind them of the need to comply or to instigate a more formal investigation.

Where we receive evidence of potential consumer harm we will analyse and assess the information received to determine which cases offer the best prospect to make real differences for consumers.

We receive numerous emails each day, many of which fall outside of our remit e.g. complaint handling or requesting information that is available on our site. Please make sure you have checked before sending anything through.

Privacy Notice

We collect and use personal information to enable us to consider and, where appropriate, investigate and respond in the most secure and efficient way possible:

The UK CAA’s Consumers and Markets Group collects, stores and uses personal information to enforce the ATOL Regulations, the ATT Regulations and relevant consumer protection legislation. Personal information will depend on what you provide to us but may include: your name, address, telephone and email details.

Why we process your personal information

We collect and use personal information to enable us to consider and, where appropriate, to investigate and respond in the most secure and efficient way possible.

Who sees your personal information and why

Sometimes we may need to share your personal information with other organisations, such as when we need to investigate incidents with other enforcement bodies, regulators and related parties.

How long we keep your personal information and why

Records used by CAA as intelligence when carrying out investigations could be retained for up to 25 years if, for example, there is a legal or regulatory basis to do so. We sometimes retain information for research or statistical purposes. If we do, we will make sure your privacy is protected and use it only for those purposes.

Your individual rights

You may submit an information enquiry or make a complaint about how we have processed your personal information by emailing FOI.requests@caa.co.uk. Please be aware that the CAA is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, which means we may need to release information you have supplied to us. However, we would never disclose your personal information without first obtaining your consent.

You have further rights as a data subject, which can be found here.

Contact details of the CAA’s Data Protection Officer can be found here.

You have a right to complain to the ICO about the CAA’s processing of personal data.

Access to our General privacy notice can be found here.

This privacy notice is subject to change.