Final call for Goldtrail hols
THE LAST of Goldtrail’s holidaymakers are making their way home this week as administrator Begbies Traynor begins to wind up the failed budget holiday operator.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said all flights back from Greece and Turkey will operate as normal today through charter airlines such as Onur Air, Turkuaz and Viking, with flights home due to leave later in the week to be announced today.
“We might find it makes sense to merge a few flights, but most Goldtrail customers will be coming home on their original flights, or one within an hour or two of that,” CAA spokesperson Jonathan Nicholson told City A.M.
Around 16,000 customers were either abroad or ready to fly from the UK when the Surrey-based company went into administration on Friday, when all outbound flights were cancelled. Around 50,000 holidays are thought to be affected in total.
Nicholson said the number of people still abroad will be substantially less by the end of today.
“The vast bulk of Goldtrail passengers will have returned on their original flights, as people tend to return from holidays at the weekend. We won’t know the exact number of people left abroad until we get the records from operators.”
Mark Fry and Jamie Taylor of Begbies Traynor were appointed as administrators for the firm on Friday, and said they “are prioritising resources to work with ATOL to ensure passengers currently abroad are assisted as quickly and efficiently as possible”.
Goldtrail has several links with another failed travel firm, XL Leisure, which folded in September 2008. Abhi Dighe, who introduced several Greek package holidays at Goldtrail, was managing director at XL’s Kosmar brand for 13 years.
Former XL boss Phil Wyatt provided Goldtrail with flights to Greece through Viking Airlines, in which he has a 50 per cent stake.