The CAA issued its latest biannual Atol renewal figures last week, with Sunshine.co.uk showing the most significant surge among last year’s top 50 Atol-licensed firms after renewing in March.

Founded in 2007, Sunshine.co.uk was acquired by On the Beach Group – whose OTA On the Beach is the UK’s fifth-largest Atol holder – last May for £12 million, but it operates as a separate brand. Last April, Sunshine.co.uk was licensed to sell 68,796 Atol-protected seats but this has more than doubled to 156,674 – a rise of some 128%.

A spokesperson for Sunshine.co.uk told TTG the firm could not comment on the rise as it was in a closed period prior to releasing its financial results.

While Sunshine.co.uk holds its own Atol licence, when combined with On the Beach it pushes the group’s authorisation beyond that of Expedia, which is in fourth place.

Loveholidays.com, which renewed its Atol in March (licensed to carry 804,618 and up 27.5% year-on-year), has now overtaken British Airways Holidays (786,000, -12.0%) climbing from eighth to sixth after more than doubling its capacity in just two years.

Meanwhile, Kuoni, which renews in September, clarified it had changed the name under which it renews its Atol. Last year, Kuoni’s licence at this time of year was for 84,688 passengers. This year, reporting under the name of parent company Der Touristik UK, it was 55,019.

However, a Kuoni spokesperson explained that the reduction was due to its Jules Verne brand now operating under its own legal title.

Generally, the number of “package” trips requiring Atol protection is expected to rise over the next year as the government implements the EU’s new Package Travel Directive on July 1.

The PTD will bring more bookings under the package definition.