ATOL Protection
The Air Travel Organiser's Licensing scheme, administered by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, which protects consumers who book package holidays or certain flight-inclusive arrangements from UK travel companies — ensuring a refund or repatriation if the travel company fails.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
ATOL is described by the CAA as a scheme that "protects travellers and their money if the travel operator they booked with ceases trading, before, or whilst they're on holiday", allowing consumers to "claim your money back or continue your holiday and be repatriated." "Any package holiday sold in the UK must be ATOL protected", and the scheme — introduced in 1973 following a series of high-profile travel company failures — now protects millions of travellers each year. ATOL holders fund the scheme by paying "£2.50 per traveller into a trust fund, which is used to repatriate, refund, or reimburse travellers" if their operator ceases trading. Protection is generally limited to situations where the travel operator itself stops trading; it does not cover other travel disruptions such as flight cancellations, though package holiday regulations provide separate protection for those.
The Air Travel Trust (ATT) sits behind the scheme as its financial backstop: the CAA confirms "the ATT is the primary source of funding when an ATOL holder fails". Consumers who pay towards an ATOL-protected trip should receive an ATOL certificate listing the protected elements of their holiday and the ATOL holder responsible, and can independently verify a company's ATOL status using the CAA's 'Check an ATOL' tool. ATOL-protected businesses are required to display the ATOL logo on their website or in their shop.
Official sources
This explanation is drawn from the official sources below; every substantive statement is verified against them. For advice on a specific matter, see our find help page.