Scottish Government orders investigation into E-Clear and collaspe of Flyglobespan

Scottish Finance Secretary, John Swinney, stated the collapse of Globespan Group plc was "badly let down" by E-Clear, the London-based company handling its credit card bookings, which reportedly owed Globespan GBP34 million, comprising GBP20 from passengers that had already travelled (The Financial Times, 19-Dec-2009). Mr Swinney added Globespan would have had a "better chance of survival" if the money had been deposited into its account. Globespan reportedly issued an order against E-Clear with the Companies Court, for which a hearing is reportedly scheduled for 10-Feb-2010 (Travel Weekly, 20-Dec-2009). First Minister, Alex Salmond, also requested a "serious investigation" by the Department for Business Regulation" into E-Clear's reported withholding of money from Globespan (Sunday Express, 20-Dec-2009).

Scottish Finance Ministry: "This company has been badly let down by the fact that a private company, handling bookings on their behalf, has not paid them money that they were due. That is the inescapable commercial reality of what has been faced here," John Swinney, Finance Secretary. Source: The Financial Times, 19-Dec-2009.

E-Clear: "As one of the world's leading payment card processing companies, we have many years' experience in the airline industry and we will bring this expertise to bear in pursuit of an equable solution that reflects the interests of all parties," Elias Elia, CEO. Source: The Financial Times, 19-Dec-2009.

PricewaterhouseCoopers announced the launch of two dedicated phonelines to deal with calls from passengers affected by the collapse of Flyglobespan (Breaking Travel News, 18-Dec-2009). The company stated it received more than 15,000 calls from passengers between Thursday and Sunday (ttglive, 20-Dec-2009).

PricewaterhouseCoopers announced the largest group's of passengers affected by the Flyglobespan collapse are those in Tenerife (1,004), Lanzarote (337), Gran Canaria (226), mainland Spain (800), Egypt (450) and Cyprus (220) (ttglive, 20-Dec-2009).

Virgin Atlantic agreed to transport 60 Flyglobespan crew members stranded in Delhi and Dublin following the collapse of the airline (Breaking Travel News, 18-Dec-2009).