Spanish airline LTE in trouble
Holidaymakers have been left stranded as the financial downturn has forced Spanish airline, LTE, to ground its plane. In a statement, the company announced that services had been suspended “due to the financial situation of the company that made it difficult to meet the operational expenses in the next days.” LTE has a fleet of seven 180-passenger Airbus A320s with bases in Palma, Majorca, the Canary Islands and Milan. The airline had recently started weekly low fare flights in July 2008 linking Norwich with Alicante, Barcelona and Palma. More than 100 passengers from East Anglia who were due to return from Barcelona, Alicante and Palma have been told they must make alternative arrangements to fly home. LTE also flew for a range of tour operators in Britain and Europe, including Cosmos, which has arranged an alternative flight to bring more than 300 holidaymakers back from Tenerife. Another 350 are due to return home at a later date. Norwich Airport said that if LTE passengers had booked an ATOL-protected package with tour operator Sunways Holidays, then the company was responsible for repatriation or refunds for customers yet to travel. Customers with forward bookings are being advised to contact the travel agency, with whom they booked, or the airline directly. If you’ve booked an LTE ticket as part of a package holiday then the tour operator is responsible for sorting out alternative flights. If you’ve booked a ticket direct with the airline, then there is no such protection. However, if you made a payment of £100 or more with a credit card, you’ll be able to get a refund through the credit card company but they won’t refund the cost of buying a flight on another airline if you find yourself stranded. Some travel insurance providers offer scheduled airline failure insurance, normally sold separately, or sold as dynamic packaging protection as part of a travel insurance policy but it is important always check the small print if these are offered because they can be quite restrictive in their cover. This article is brought to you by Travelandinsure.com – specialist in ethical travel insurance.