Thousands of Budget customers due refunds

COMPANY COLLAPSE:MORE THAN 2,000 Budget Travel customers are due refunds after the collapse of the company, according to the provisional liquidator.

The cost of refunding customers who had bookings but had not travelled is expected to amount to several million euro, liquidator Simon Coyle, of Mazars, said yesterday. About 400 people had been expecting to travel this weekend before the company went into liquidation, on Wednesday.

About 700 Budget customers who were away at the time of its collapse are due back in Ireland this weekend on the flights they were originally scheduled to travel on. The remaining 50 will come back next weekend.

The Commission for Aviation Regulation believes several hundred of those returning this weekend are coming home early. It says they will not be able to obtain compensation from the company’s travel bond for the curtailment of their holidays.

A spokesman advised holidaymakers flying back early to check their travel insurance, to see if it covers this eventuality.

Coyle has put advertisements in today’s newspaper announcing the sale of Budget’s assets, including its trade name, website and physical assets in its shops.

Holidaymakers who have not yet travelled have been advised to obtain a refund from the commission by filling out a claim form that is available on the regulator’s website, aviationreg.ie.

Customers who used Budget Travel to book a holiday with another tour operator should contact that operator to find out if they can still take their break. Their invoices will show which firm they were due to go with.

Ireland’s largest tour operator announced this week that it was to cease trading immediately, with the loss of 172 jobs and the closure of 17 shops.

A helpline has been established at Budget Travel to deal with queries from customers concerned about their bookings. The number for the helpline is 01-6613122. The commission admitted the helpline was experiencing “technical difficulties”, but a spokeswoman for the liquidator said yesterday that these had been sorted out.

Unusually in such a situation, the repatriation of passengers is being handled by Budget staff employed by Coyle, under the direction of the commission. A spokesman for the commission, which normally has responsibility in such cases, said it was grateful for the assistance.

Budget had lodged a cash bond of €11.4 million with the commission, comfortably in excess of the amount needed to refund and repatriate customers.

Meanwhile, another “six or seven” travel companies are expected to wind up after opting not to take up new licences from the commission. A commission spokesman said they were among 13 companies that have been given decisions in principle to renew their licences but have not completed the necessary paperwork.