Loss of Excel flights leaves thousands stranded

Today yet another low budget airline company fell victim to the weakening economy and rising oil prices. Excel Airways collapsed leaving 67, 000 passengers stranded abroad with signs indicating more companies could follow suit.

Some of the more lucky will be able to arrange a new flight which will be paid for through their travel insurance but unfortunately there are still those who fail to take out any form of cover each year when they travel abroad leaving themselves at risk from a variety of occurrences.

United Kingdom giant, British Airways, have also announced the cutting of 1,400 senior management jobs as they start to feel the pinch which has entered every business sector in recent months.

For those who have taken out travel insurance a claim should be successful (depending on an individual policies terms and conditions). The vast majority of policies will cover for last minute cancellations and you can then ring the claims line to arrange for a refund or an alternative flight.

Unfortunately part of the problem in the case of the Excel collapse was that the Civil Aviation Authority grounded all of Excels planes as soon as the announcement was made. If they had been allowed to stay in service to bring customers back from their holiday destinations the situation would be a whole lot simpler. As it currently stands BA and Ryan air have offered some of their aircraft for this purpose and the CAA will have to arrange transport for the vast majority who remain abroad.

The important lesson to learn from this unfortunate incident is to ensure you have some form of cover set up in advance when you are travelling abroad. Policies can be found cheaply on the internet with the advent of comparison websites and start from as little as £3.