Malta amongst European countries wanting EU to suspend refunds for cancelled flights law
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France, Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Poland and Portugal are calling on Brussels to temporarily suspend a European law granting refunds for cancelled flights.
France and the Netherlands will spearhead the push, which is expected to come during a meeting of European transport ministers.
The decision comes amid “anger from passengers who had their flights cancelled because of the coronavirus lockdowns but were only offered vouchers in compensation.”
In a joint statement the countries said that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on international transport, including air travel. An immense number of flights have been cancelled. Air carriers are no longer generating passenger business, yet they continue to incur high running costs.
“Because of this, Regulation EC (No) 261/2004 and its obligation to reimburse cancelled tickets in cash, if the passenger so decides, places airlines in a difficult situation where they are facing a serious cash flow challenge. When the wording of the regulation was conceived, the current global crisis and its impact on air travel could not have been foreseen. The goal shared by the European Union and its Member States must now be to preserve the structure of the European air traffic market beyond the current crisis, while considering the interests and necessary protection of passengers.”
In a joint statement, 12 member states 🇳🇱🇫🇷🇧🇪🇧🇬🇨🇾🇨🇿🇬🇷🇮🇪🇱🇻🇲🇹🇵🇱🇵🇹 ask @EU_Commission to amend the air passengers rights regulation to allow the temporary issuance of vouchers to preserve the EU air traffic market beyond the #COVID19 crisis. pic.twitter.com/Pkgx6Xbhr0
The statement adds that the countries believe that regulating the temporary issuance of vouchers is possible and acceptable for consumers, if some key principles are taken into account: transparent information to the passenger, non-discrimination, a common length of voucher validity, maximum flexibility of use and a clear right of reimbursement immediately at the end of validity in the event of non-use of vouchers.
“Moreover, as consumers are offered vouchers with a long-term validity, it is crucial to discuss ways to protect voucher owners against the risk of bankruptcy of the airlines that issued those vouchers. We are ready to explore this on a European level and call upon the Commission to take this aspect into account. The corresponding work should however not block action on the demand from airlines, which is becoming more urgent every day.”
