Nightmare for Larne holidaymakers

Thousands of Goldtrail customers from across the UK were trapped abroad when the Greece and Turkey holiday specialist went into administration on Friday, with many more people scheduled to fly out over the weekend.

Larne cousins Lauren Burns and Billy Brown were looking forward to jetting off on their first holiday abroad by themselves on Monday. But the collapse of Goldtrail forced the teenagers to search frantically for an alternative flight to Turkey, as they suddenly found their tickets were no longer valid.

And Larne couple Gary Weir and Gillian Kelly, who were booked to fly to Turkey in October, were also forced to make new arrangements in the wake of the travel firm's sudden collapse.

DON'T MISS THE FULL STORY IN THIS WEEK'S LARNE TIMES. Gary explained: “We had booked our accommodation through Steven and are so grateful that he agreed to give us a refund, as he was under no obligation to do so.”

It was reported that Mr Gorman has been helping other people caught up in the travel chaos, including some of his own family.

A spokeswoman at Co-Op Travel in Larne said the branch had helped eight people re-book holidays after Goldtrail’s collapse and added that she was not aware of any local people being stuck abroad.

In a statement issued on its website on Friday evening, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it had taken steps to protect customers booked with Goldtrail Travel Ltd after the company ceased trading.

The CAA said those already abroad on flight inclusive holidays would be repatriated back to the UK, while holidaymakers were being reassured that they could claim back money lost on bookings. However, it has been reported that refunds could take several months to process.

Goldtrail Travel Ltd, trading as Goldtrail Holidays, Goldtrail Travel and Sunmar, held ATOL licence 4648 and was based in New Malden, Surrey. It operated flights and holiday packages from many UK airports to Turkey and Greece, and sold mainly through travel agents.