Loveholidays has increased its licence by a further 10% to 5,520,145 authorisations, which amounts to the addition of another 508,859 seats.
It puts Loveholidays, which has more than doubled in size in the wake of the pandemic, within half a million seats (422,656) of the UK's second largest Atol holder Tui.
Tui is licensed to carry 5,942,801 Atol-protected passengers in the year to the end of September 2026, although its position in the market is strengthened by its ownership of another top 10 Atol holder, Marella Cruises.
Loveholidays chief executive Donat Retif said the latest update to its Atol reflected the "momentum" behind the brand. "With a licence to take five and a half million UK passengers on holiday over the course of the next year, we are further strengthening our position as a leader in package travel," said Retif.
Ups and downs
September-renewing Jet2holidays remains the UK's single-largest Atol holder with just over seven million authorisations, followed by Tui, Loveholidays and easyJet holidays (3,455,570).
On the Beach rounds out the top five, cementing its place in the ranking with the addition of 172,553 seats for the coming year (+7.3%) growing its Atol to 2,533,150.
The rest of the top 10 remains the same with British Airways Holidays climbing into sixth (1,178,956) ahead of Booking.com, which falls to seventh after taking out 157,197 Atol authorisations (-12.4%).
BravoNext trading as Lastminute.com remains eighth (732,024, down from 754,465), Tui-owned Marella Cruises ninth (423,657, up from 409,852) and Expedia tenth (421,563, up from 339,644).
Outside the top 10, there are few significant changes; Virgin Holidays (12th) has trimmed its Atol by 2.2% from 275,033 seats to 268,914, while P&O Cruises parent Carnival plc has upped its licence by just over 6.6% from 236,592 to 252,265 authorisations, climbing into 13th position ahead of Southall Travel.
Travel Counsellors stays 18th in the list despite a minor increase in its Atol from 155,253 authorisations to 155,789.
Further down the list, The Walt Disney Company has cut its Atol from 95,681 seats to 92,319 (-3.5%), Cresta World Travel Ltd has grown its from 88,015 to 93,815 (+6.6%) and Gold Medal Travel Group has trimmed its from 55,501 to 52,091 (-6%)
One notable absence is Classic Collection, which had previously been licensed to carry 86,560 Atol-protected passengers, after the On the Beach-owned brand was shuttered last year.
CAA refund warning
The CAA, which administers the Atol scheme, has confirmed 636 of the 702 licences that expired on 31 March have been renewed, with a further 26 still in the application process or yet to meet licence conditions. It means 1,674 travel businesses are now licensed under the scheme.
It took the spring renewal to issue a warning to travel businesses that they must offer cash refunds to consumers "in the event of cancellation due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances" amid the challenging operating environment in light of the conflict in the Middle East.
Geoff Wingfield, the CAA's Atol spokesperson, said: “The continued demand for Atol protected holidays shows consumers place real importance on having confidence and clarity when they book their trips.
"We recognise the challenges that travel companies are facing with the evolving situation in the Middle East. It is important that passengers’ holidays are protected, and we will continue to work with industry to ensure they understand how best to support their customers.”
Note: This article was original published stating Gold Medal Travel Group had reduced the size of its Atol by a third. This was incorrect. TTG is happy to correct the record and apologises to Gold Medal Travel Group for the error.
