Chancellor Philip Hammond announced a review into airline insolvency arrangements in last year’s autumn Budget following the collapse of Monarch and the government’s decision to fly home all passengers, regardless of whether or not they had Atol protection.

In an interview with TTG, Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer insisted members would have the chance to voice their concerns on the issue.

“The current situation is unsatisfactory,” he said. “The government set a precedent with Monarch. It’s difficult not to bring customers home [when a company fails] but it’s whether they say ‘while we recognise having Brits stranded abroad isn’t good, we can’t bring you home’, however painful that is politically. Or could we perhaps have a levy on all customers?

“A decade ago there was an argument for an all-flight levy… we could make every passenger pay 50p per flight, for example.”

A yet-to-be-named independent chairman will lead the review. Tanzer said he had not yet seen “the terms of it”, but added that the association was “very pleased that they [the government] are looking at this”.

“Everyone felt that the structure wasn’t right,” he added. “It’s one for members to look out for this year.”