LONDON (AP) — Tens of thousands of people scrambled to make last-minute holiday plans on Wednesday after the collapse of budget travel company Kiss Flights — the 13th British vacation firm to fold this year.
The failure of Kiss Flights — leaving passengers stranded in Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the Canary Islands — reflects the rough ride experienced by the airline industry in the wake of the global financial crisis as demand for flying has tailed off.
Those people who did still decide to take to the skies for work or business in recent months have been hit by turbulence including the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud that shut down European air space and the rolling British Airways PLC strikes that grounded trans-Atlantic and international flights.
The threat of more disruption over the busy summer period was narrowly averted this week when a leading union agreed to hold off on strike action this month while taking a new pay offer from airports operator BAA to its ground staff members.
"This is sadly yet another collapse in what could become a rash of company failures this autumn," Bob Atkinson, a travel analyst at travelsupermarket.com said of the Kiss failure.
Around 1,500 Kiss customers managed to take their scheduled flights to the Mediterranean on Wednesday, after the Civil Aviation Authority stepped and before the company ceased trading in the early evening.
That left 60,000 people with forward bookings trying to arrange alternative flights and another 13,000 customers abroad. The CAA was making arrangements to bring customers already overseas home at the end of their vacation.
Compounding the disappointment for many was the fact that Kiss’ collapse comes just a month after that of rival operator Goldtrail, which offered trips to the same destinations.
Clive Rees, from Llandrindod Wells in Wales, was one of many unlucky customers who had switched to Kiss after Goldtrail went under.
"We’re very frustrated, it’s a real nuisance," he told the BBC. "We’ve already had to rebook flights because of Goldtrail’s collapse, and we’re now looking around for cheaper flights."
Kiss is the major trading name of Flight Options, which bought the company last year.
Flight Options also traded under the names Africa Options, America Options, Canada Options, Caribbean Options, Dubai Options, Elgouna Options, Elgouna Villas and Apartments, Florida Options, Florida Owners Club, Golf Options, Holidayops.com, Orlando Villas Direct, Sportops.com, Travel Options Direct and Travelplus.
