Will the Zoom message be lost on consumers?

When the first reports came in yesterday afternoon about Zoom aircraft being impounded my first thoughts were 'what a shame for everyone involved. It was a good airline on a noble cause; trying to operate low fare flights over the Atlantic'.

My second thought was... 'told you so!'

I've been banging on and on about the role of the internet for travellers...

Unless you are buying simple short-haul flights & a hotel for a weekend break, use the Internet for research only. Always book holidays and long-haul travel on the phone and with a bonded agent or operator.

This is for a number of reasons, but in the case of the Zoom collapse, I think The Times puts it rather succinctly:

Travellers left stranded by the collapse of the budget airline Zoom were forced today to pay thousands of pounds for alternative flights, or cancel their dream holidays.

The airline's collapse has left 4,500 UK passengers already on holiday abroad high and dry. The Civil Aviation Authority warned that only those who had booked their flights as part of a package deal were guaranteed a flight home without having to buy another ticket.

"If you book direct, you're on your own," a spokesman said..