CAA confirms Atol renewals for more than 600 travel businesses

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has confirmed the number of Atol holders stands at 1,616 following the March licence renewal process, a small decline from the 1,630 licensed 12 months ago.

The CAA renewed 611 licenses from April 1 out of the 674 Atols due to expire at the end of March, with a further 27 still in the application process or yet to meet the licensing conditions.

That was down from 615 renewals out of 668 Atols due to expire a year ago.

The top-three Atol holders remain unchanged, with Jet2holidays in first place with a licence to carry just over seven million passengers in the 12 months to September and Tui second with a licence for more than 5.8 million over the same period.

Online travel agent We Love Holidays, in third place, recorded the biggest increase in licence adding a little over one million to its Atol to take it just above five million for the 12 months to April 2026.

EasyJet Holidays, in fourth place up from fifth a year ago, raised its Atol licence numbers from 2.4 million to more than three million, and OTA On the Beach rose from sixth to fifth place by increasing its licence by about 200,000 to 2.36 million.

Accommodation platform Booking.com fell out of the top five having reduced its Atol last year from almost 2.4 million to 1.27 million.

These figures are the maximum number of package holiday customers companies are licensed to carry over a 12-month period, but they can vary the numbers with CAA agreement.

Atols come up for renewal either in March or September, with about 60% of Atol holders renewing at the end of summer.

CAA head of Atol Michael Budge said: “Companies renewing their licence in March have shown they expect passenger demand will continue to grow over the next 12 months.”

He noted holidays abroad “remain a high priority for many” despite the fact that “household budgets will continue to feel the squeeze in the coming months” and said: “It’s important consumers do their research before booking.

“Use our website to check their holiday company is an Atol-licensed tour operator and book an Atol-protected package holiday.”

In a statement, the CAA reminded businesses to apply to renew Atols “well in advance of the deadline” because of the time required to analyse and process applications and for the applicant to put any required conditions in place.

It noted businesses which fail to allow reasonable time to apply by the deadline “risk being unable to take Atol-protected bookings”.

The CAA is responsible for the Atol scheme as the UK’s aviation regulator.

The latest Atol renewal process was completed on time despite the threat of a strike over the final days of the renewal by members of the PCS trade union in the CAA’s Air Travel Finance and Licensing (ATFL) section which administers the Atol scheme.