Regulators face claims nearing €390,000 from holidaymakers likely to lose out as a high-profile travel agency is wound up.
Dublin-based Platinum Travel, run by directors Austin Carroll and Ciara Foley, is destined for liquidation after it ceased trading days before Christmas.
Sources say that initial calculations show that customers who booked holidays with the firm could claim up to €389,474 from the Irish Aviation Authority’s (IAA) Travellers’ Protection Fund which is meant to compensate consumers where such businesses fail.
About 85 customers who had booked holidays were hit when Platinum ceased trading on December 19th, indicating claims averaging some €4,580 each.
Platinum Travel customers could seek almost €390,000 in compensation
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Travel industry insiders say those figures are not unrealistic, particularly given that Platinum focused mainly on long-haul trips, particularly to the US and other destinations.
The IAA, which regulates airlines and the travel industry, confirmed on Wednesday that it had received 28 claims from Platinum Travel customers to date.
“Valid claims against the insolvency protection scheme will be paid out irrespective and independently of the liquidation outcome,” noted a statement.
The authority added that the Travellers’ Protection Fund would be an unsecured creditor in the firm’s liquidation but it gave no detail on the likely scale of any liability.
The company’s statement of affairs, which sets out its liabilities and assets, lists the authority as an unsecured creditor.
The IAA will assess all claims to the protection fund individually.
Creditors are also likely to include suppliers and lenders. Platinum’s most recent accounts, for the 12 months to December 31st 2023, show it owed banks and credit institutions €122,540 on that date. Its creditors met on January 9th to vote on the appointment of Flavien Keily of Irish Liquidations as liquidator.
However, the meeting was adjourned when it emerged that none of the 85 customers had been given the legally required 10-day minimum notice of the meeting.
The meeting must be reconvened within 21 days of the adjournment, meaning that it will have to be completed and a liquidator appointed by the end of the month.
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Mr Carroll told the meeting that the directors last month resolved that the company was no longer solvent and had to cease trading. It told customers of this on December 19th.
The company and its directors are well known in the Irish travel business. It launched in 2005, specialising in long-haul and customised trips for holidaymakers.
The accounts show that it had net assets of €76,201 at the end of December 2023.
They also show that the company paid its two directors €85,000 in total and contributed €18,914 to their pensions.
A notice posted on Platinum Travel’s website on December 19th tells customers with current bookings to check with airlines and accommodation providers.
The note sets out various steps that customers can take, depending on whether their flights or accommodation are paid for.
It also recommends that they contact the IAA and provides a link to the authority’s site and claim forms.
Neither Ms Keily nor Ms Foley could comment when contacted by The Irish Times.
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