Airline leaves 4,500 abroad

Scotland's biggest airline Flyglobespan has gone into administration leaving 4,500 passengers stranded - mostly in Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Egypt, the BBC reports.

The Civil Aviation Authority will be repatriating about 1,100. In a statement, the administrators said the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would be responsible for the repatriation of about 1,100 people who were on holidays booked as part of a Globespan package holiday.

But 3,400 people are overseas and are not protected after booking directly through flyglobespan.com.

There are also 27,000 people who have future flights booked through the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Atol) insurance scheme, and around 90,000 people who have forward bookings but have no Atol protection.

Insurer Direct Line said people stranded by the Flyglobespan failure would be covered by its travel insurance policies.

Direct Line has included airline failure cover to their travel insurance products and it will now protect customers from financial loss should their airline go bust. I

Jennifer Thomas, spokesperson for Direct Line travel insurance, said: “Holidaymakers are understandably looking to spend less on travel these days, and booking directly with airlines and hotels can be a good way of getting more while spending less. However, this means that it is now more essential than ever to have insurance in case these firms fail, as there is no protection from schemes such as ATOL or ABTA if booked direct. With our updated travel insurance policies, our customers can now travel with increased peace of mind, knowing that they will be covered in the unfortunate event of a supplier’s collapse.”