Last of stranded XL passengers flown home
October 1, 2008The final repatriation flight bringing home people affected by the collapse of XL Airways has landed in the UK
Some 83,000 passengers were left stranded in 40 destinations around the globe after parent company XL Leisure collapsed last month.
In the 18 days that have followed, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has operated some 222 charter flights to ferry passengers home.
The industry group offered the return flights to anyone affected by bankruptcy, but only people with Atol-protection were able to use the service free of charge.
People who booked direct with XL Airways lack such protection and so have been forced to meet the cost of repatriation themselves.
Richard Jackson, CAA director of consumer protection, said the group is now focusing on securing refunds for the more than 200,000 XL customers who have had forward bookings cancelled.
"We now ask claimants to bear with us and understand we are working as swiftly as possible to process refund claims," he commented.
The industry group expects to process around 70,000 claims over the coming weeks and months.
© Adfero Ltd
