More info can be found here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/8422230.stm

A shame, I liked Libra and used them many times to Greece

That is bad news . No doubt there will be some of our regulars due to travel to Egypt over cristmas and new year with Libra .

Fortunately the company has less than 100 customers currently abroad, and only 4000 future bookings, which should hopefully make the repatriation, rebooking or refund process less difficult in comparison to some other recent failures.

For info and advice from ABTA about this failure, please click here.

David

They will probably reappear under a different name with same old faces involved, like when allbury took over libra. Hope everyone gets
a full refund and can get rebooked with another company, which will not be easy this time of year,

Just booked next years summer hols with them last week

hi...it is worrying hearing about these companies going down....the more go down the stronger the big players get....its a double edged sword then....making it safer to book with the big names but them being able to charge bigger prices and less willing to play fair with the public....I got a good deal booking early with thomascook and am happy but when you see the likes of globespan going down you wonder how safe you really are even with the big companies....tweetie

ps...judithchalmers.....thats a famous travel name ....hope you get your hols sorted

Allbury Travel reportedly has something in common with other failed companies such as XL Leisure, Zoom and Flyglobespan, namely that credit card payments from their customers were processed by a company called E-Clear.

It is reported that in the case of Flyglobespan, which collapsed just a couple of days ago, E-Clear was holding back £34m of their money for reasons that are as yet unclear.

The Chief Executive of E-Clear is Elias Elia. Separate from E-Clear, it is understood that Mr Elia was also part of the Halcyon Investments consortium, which was involved in a last ditch failed investment bid with Flyglobespan.

Furthermore, it is alleged that Mr Elia also controls a British Virgin Islands based company called Allbury Ltd., which apparently owns Allbury Travel.

David

I booked flights to Egypt to go on Boxing Day, with Libra Holidays, on Thursday. I'm a bit confused whether we're covered or not, just found this on the CAA website re: Allbury,

"Flight only passengers with scheduled airline tickets or e-tickets
If your travel arrangements consisted of flights only and you hold a valid reservation you will
still be able to travel as planned and cannot make a claim."

So now I'm totally confused whether or not I still have my flights! Any ideas anyone?!! I'm meant to be flying with Jet2, do you think it is worth contacting them to see if my reservation is valid?

Thanks for the help guys, I'm absolutely gutted at the moment and my head is spinning with it!

Hi Vix ... ATOL bonding is a head spinning issue !!

My understanding is that if you had booked a package holiday with Libra, all components of that holiday would now be cancelled following the collapse of the tour operator, and you would need to seek reimbursement from the CAA under the ATOL scheme.

However, if you have only booked scheduled flights through Libra and you have either tickets or e-tickets, then your booking should be honoured by the airline. This is because, unlike the Flyglobespan situation, you have booked your flights through a tour operator rather than directly with the airline. In this case, it is the tour operator which has collapsed, but the airline (Jet2) continues as normal.

David

That gives me a slight glimmer of hope David, thank you! I'm going to have to speak to Jet2 tomorrow to check we really are booked on that flight. I have a confirmation email and a booking reference number so am hoping it is a valid reservation. Fingers crossed!!

It certainly sounds as if you should perhaps be okay Vix, unlike package holiday customers. But if I was in your position, I would definitely double check with the airline. Good luck, do let us know how you get on.

David

Hi all,

I have booked a holiday with Imperial Travel ltd (for Egypt, 24th December... gutted!) ... they booked the hotel direct and then the flights with Viking airlines, through Libra travel (who are part of Allbury Travel Group)

I am soooooo confused. Imperial seem to think my holiday is cancelled and that i need to buy replacement flights, and that i have to pay and get refunded by ATOl for the other flights. i cant do this as they are £200 per person more than i paid so i just dont have the money.

Anyway, I called CAA as i felt that it made no sense, i have flight tickets with Viking (printed by Allbury) and if that is all i booked with them, how come Viking wont honour my flight? I asked the CAA this and they said that all holiday bookings made through Allbury were cancelled... i explained again that i only booked a flight and already have tickets, but they said they are not worth the paper they are printed on.. everything booked through Libra/Allbury is cancelled.

I am confused as i just looked on the CAA website and it says that flight only customers with a reservation still have their flights so cant claim???!!

please can anyone shed any light on this? I have been calling Viking since 3pm and they have switched to an answerphone and although i have left message no one has called me back...

any help would be gratefully appreciated xx

Snowie...this is the grey area that really annoys us the customer caught up in this type of situation
the problem i think, is although you have paid and got your tkts the airline Viking have not been paid
thus they cancel your original booking as no payment r'ced... and you have to rebook and pay with them
or an alternative flt but whatever way you look at it your original tkts are worthless...
its very WRONG and and as i stated earlier a grey area and more importantly VERY UNFAIR

thanks Brian,

my confusion stems from the CAA website and someones earlier post who said that they thought they still had flights because they had tickets?

clinging on to a thread in hope! we are absolutely gutted our christmas has basically been cancelled... surely it would have made sense for them to have contacted us and offered us the tickets if they had not been paid? if we want to go on holiday we have a pay an extra £800, which we just dont have.

thanks for your post though, i thought it was worth a shot xx

As said earlier, the ATOL scheme is very confusing and full of grey areas.

The CAA website is reasonably clear, in that if someone has only booked scheduled flights through an ATOL tour operator and has tickets or e-tickets, then their arrangements should be or will usually be honoured.

However, when you dig deeper on the CAA website, there are some further points made about the need for an ATOL Confirmation Invoice after making a payment. It also states that if you receive a ticket straight away, then you won't normally be protected by ATOL.

Take a look at these pages:

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1080&pagetype=70&gid=1872&faqid=1046

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1080&pagetype=70&gid=1872&faqid=1035

David

I'm really not feeling that confident now, think we're going to have to wave goodbye to £1700 & have no holiday either. Just spoke to CAA again and they are saying now that anything at all booked with Allbury is cancelled, scheduled flight or not, totally contrary to what it states on their website, I've spoke to them 3 times now, they really don't seem very well informed in what is on their website, keep leaving the phone to speak to a team leader, really don't seem to know their stuff. I'm so gutted about this, my 4 year old daughter is going to be devastated. As are we. We did pay £500 of the flight money on a credit card so at least we may get £500 back I suppose.

I have never spoken to anyone who can justifiably claim to be an expert on ATOL. But it's sad and frustrating if the CAA themselves are so confused about it. I hope that Jet2 might have some better news for you Vix.

David

Well things aren't looking good at all, Jet2 have no record of us so looks like Libra have taken our money and not made our booking, I'm beyond gutted, can't believe it. Goodbye £1750. I'm so angry about it!! Seems there is nothing at all I can do, how can they get away with taking our money and there being nothing we can do about it?!! CAA still say as the email I received from Libra didn't mention ATOL, I'm not covered, how can this be when they company was ATOL protected?! Seems wrong and totally unfair.

Thanks for 'listening' guys! I'll update if I hear anything new.

We too were meant to be travelling to Egypt on the 19th December - we were rang by CAA an hour before we were due to set off. This was our first holiday abroad with our children one of whom is autistic. Try telling him that he won't be having a holiday after you have spent 4 months preparing him for it! We have lost £2,300. We have filled in CAA's claim form as we paid for the holiday by debit card so hopefully we will get the money back. Any advice anyone?