The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has completed the March 2008 renewal of licensing travel organisers under the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) scheme. In the first renewal under new ATOL Protection Contribution (APC) arrangements, in which most licence holders no longer have to provide a bond, 1,046 firms applied to renew their licences. Of these, 1,032 firms received decisions and 916 renewed on time.

Of the 144 firms that applied to renew, but did not have their licence granted by the deadline, 110 were Small Business Licence holders, and the majority have held their licence for a short period of time.

Andy Cohen, Head of ATOL Licensing at the CAA, said: "Whilst this renewal was the first in which most companies did not require bonds, it was similar to previous renewals in that most firms that did not renew on time were Small Business Licence holders. Due to the nature of their business, renewing on time is often less critical, but we expect most to renew shortly."