My Holiday Expert

Black Pearl Investments (BPI) has called for the Civil Aviation Authority to disclose what it knows about the collapse of Goldtrail Holidays.

The private equity fund has a minority share in Viking Airlines, which had sold around 30,000 Greece-bound seats to Goldtrail for the forthcoming summer season. The airline had also reviewed the company’s finances before striking the deal.

Now, following the operator’s collapse with around 16,000 customers stranded overseas and a further 50,000 forward bookings, the private equity fund is urging the CAA to start providing answer’s to the company’s failure.

The staement reads: “It appeared then that Goldtrail was a robust and well-established business, and it paid for its flying on the dot. Its failure just as we enter the peak season, when passengers’ final balances would have been paid, makes no sense.

“Presumably the CAA monitors ATOL-protected businesses on a monthly basis, too. BPI would welcome the CAA’s views on how and why Goldtrail’s failure has occurred at this time of the year.”

The statement also seeks to distance two former XL Leisure Group employees from the collapse of Goldtrail. It notes that Abhi Dighe worked for Kosmar Holidays when it was acquired by XL before then moving to Goldtrail.

However, he has not worked there since August last year.

“He (Dighe) is patently not linked in any way to Goldtrail’s collapse,” it reads.

The statement also adds that former XL chief executive Phil Wyatt is a shareholder in BPI which is only linked to Goldtrail through the contract for 30,000 seats this summer.

“Linking Phil Wyatt’s name with the Goldtrail failure is pure mischief-making and total misrepresentation of the facts,” the statement adds.

source: www.travel.co.uk