Oasis Hong Kong Airlines Booking Launch
By Darren Cronian on Wednesday, September 6th, 2006

I’ve received a number of emails today regarding Oasis Hong Kong Airlines – just in case you didn’t know, they have now started to accept bookings for their first flight from Hong Kong to London in October, and a few concerns have arisen after visiting the website.

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines Booking Launch

Most of the email queries are surrounding no sign of the ATOL or IATA registration number, or any other travel association protection on the website. I’ve had a look on the ATOL and IATA website, and I cannot find any entry for them, which worries me that they are not registered.

I have to admit that I know very little about airline associations, so if anyone can shed any light on if an airline has to be ATOL / IATA registered, it would be appreciated. The airline are also yet to receive a licence from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) does that mean if they don’t get a licence, do customers receive their money back?

One reader contacted me about a disclaimer which states “Fares subject to Hong Kong Government Approval” Could this mean that the seat price could increase, or worse still that the flight is cancelled nearer the date?

There appears to be more questions than answers on the Oasis Hong Kong Airlines website. I’m going to email ATOL and IATA to see if they can provide any information for worried travellers. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

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14 responses to “Oasis Hong Kong Airlines Booking Launch”

mikeyboy | 7 September, 2006 at 6:53 am

Is this anything to do with the Gallagher brothers? They’re opening a hotel chain soon…

Darren, does WordPress support Textile in your comments?

Darren Cronian | 7 September, 2006 at 7:18 am

Mikey, I think you can get a plugin - do you mean like an HTML version of comments, so that you can enter text like this and it appears as a link rather than a long web address?

mikeyboy | 7 September, 2006 at 8:13 am

That’s exactly what I mean Darren.

I use Textile on my blog which allows me to express links like this “WordPress(WordPress is quite good!)”:http://www.wordpress.org

mikeyboy | 7 September, 2006 at 8:15 am

This is one of the major flaws with blogs is commenters not being sure how to format comments, as there’s an assumed knowledge.

Darren Cronian | 7 September, 2006 at 9:32 am

Well Wordpress has a plugin - so I’ll sort that out tonight.

Kevin May | 7 September, 2006 at 11:51 am

info:

* an airline does NOT need an IATA licence. 94% of airlines are members, but an increasing number are not. the low-cost carriers, Ryanair, EasyJet et al, are not and are instead members of ELFAA, the European Low Fare Airlines Association, which in theory protects passengers if a company goes bust.

* airlines do NOT need an ATOL licence unless they are selling a package holiday as part of a deal, which Oasis is not.

* an airline, in the words of one of our reporters, “wouldn’t be able to take off or land at a UK airport without a CAA licence. therefore i suspect Hong Kong Oasis probably does have a licence or is in the process of getting one.

km, ed, travo

Darren Cronian | 7 September, 2006 at 1:24 pm

Back on topic :)

Thanks Kev, my knowledge of airline associations is pretty limited. I’ve heard that CAA licence will come after the final test flight. Which makes you wonder what if you book your flight now, and they don’t get a licence, would you receive a refund.

Darren Cronian | 7 September, 2006 at 6:10 pm

Reply from CAA
——————————————
Darren

Thank you for your email concerning Oasis.

Airlines are not required to bonded under the ATOL system, meaning that should an airline fail neither the CAA, nor anybody else, would hold a bond or fund to administer claims. This is also the case for airlines worldwide. The CAA has made several proposals to the Government for legislation to protect scheduled airline passengers but nothing has been introduced; our most recent proposal was rejected.

If customers pay by Credit Card and the cost is over £100 they might be protected by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. They should contact their card issuer concerning this.

The CAA does not grant permits to non-UK registered airlines; these are dealt with by the Department for Transport. I understand that the airline has applied but I do not have details.

Yours sincerely

Consumer Advice

Civil Aviation Authority

Jan | 24 September, 2006 at 1:30 pm

I just bought my flights and was a little worried to see this entry. I don’t know anyone else who has booked with them, but they are significantly cheaper than other airlines so I took the risk. Anyone know anything more yet?

Ian Canton | 25 September, 2006 at 5:33 pm

Check ur travel insurance to see if it covers scheduled airline failure. if it does, then u can cease worrying.

it’s actually a good thing that protection against airline failure isn’t compulsory. if it were, then there would be a levy of perhaps £2 on each flight and users of good airlines that are unlikely to fail would end up subsidising those who choose to fly on poorly-managed ones. those people who are responsible enough to buy travel insurance would also see their money wasted in this respect.

ian. :)

alfred tan | 4 November, 2006 at 8:39 am

Am interested to book online from Manila via Hongkong to London, how can I go about it , since i can’t find any on line booking page. all what i read are the sttructure and history of the airline. pls. reply urgent.

John | 28 December, 2006 at 10:21 am

With regard to aircraft used by Oasis, the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department follows UK rules when issuing a Certificate of Airworthiness for the aircraft.

Talkback MSN Money charts the fate of the low cost airlines | Overseas Property Investment Blog | 11 May, 2007 at 4:34 pm

[...] a little deeper into the Oasis deal, I came across Travel-Rants.com, a travel blog with a twist, which worryingly pointed out that Oasis Hong Kong Airlines is not a registered member of major [...]

RGS | 3 August, 2007 at 9:34 am

I was flying Oasis last month … I was pretty impressed .. here is my blog entry:

http://www.random-good-stuff.com/index.php/2007/07/23/cheapest-way-to-get-to-hong-kong/

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