Holiday let-down as trips cancelled

The collapse of Kiss Flights means around 60,000 people who were looking forward to their summer break will be left disappointed.

Air regulators managed to get more than 1,500 Kiss customers on flights from the UK to the Mediterranean yesterday.

But after 6pm – when an arrangement made by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to allow customers to travel as normal ended – those who booked with Kiss were not be able to fly.

For some holidaymakers this was their second successive blow as they had booked with Kiss Flights having already fallen victim to the collapse last month of Surrey-based holiday company Goldtrail.

People whose holidays have been cancelled will now be forced to seek either alternative arrangements or compensation from the CAA.

The 13,000 UK tourists already abroad on Kiss trips were able to carry on their holidays as the London-based company's operations were financially protected by the CAA-run Atol (Air Travel Operators Licensing) scheme.

One double whammy sufferer was Margaret Cleave, 67, from Glasgow, who booked originally with Goldtrail and is still waiting for the refund of nearly 1,000 for flights to Turkey for herself and her sister. She then booked for the same dates in September through Kiss Flights.

She said: "We cannot afford to lose any of this money and cannot believe this has happened again. We will be a bit wary when we next go on holiday. We will get our money back but do not know when."

Kiss Flights, which operated flights to Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the Canary Islands, folded after its owner Flight Options ceased trading on Tuesday.

Most passengers who travelled yesterday flew from Manchester or Gatwick.