Passengers in the pandemic: passenger rights on the ground

Air traffic in the EU almost came to a standstill at times during the pandemic. The European Court of Auditors is now complaining that the rights of the passengers concerned have been violated in rows.

The sky is filling up again. Current air traffic can no longer be compared to last spring: In the first Corona wave in April 2020, the number of flights fell by almost 90 percent compared to the previous year. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), around 770 million fewer air passengers were carried in Europe over the entire year.

The corona pandemic has slowed air traffic – and the rights of millions of air passengers at the same time, criticized the European Court of Auditors (ECA) based in Luxembourg in a special report. According to the auditor in charge, Annemie Turtelboom, air passenger rights were severely violated during the pandemic. “That happened surprisingly with the approval of the EU governments – which passed laws that exempt airlines and tour operators from the obligation to compensate passengers for canceled flights,” said Turtelboom.

Vouchers instead of refunds

Actually, according to the Passenger Rights Ordinance, the airline has to reimburse the ticket costs within seven days of the application in the event of a cancellation. But according to the Court of Auditors’ report, Italy and Greece allowed exceptions to this rule. In the case of ticket cancellations as part of a package tour, the organizer has 14 days for the reimbursement. This is what the Passenger Directive says. However, 15 EU countries have issued special regulations, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Both are violations of EU law, criticizes the Court of Auditors. In addition, many companies initially suspended reimbursements or offered vouchers. This is also illegal, explains ECA expert Turtelboom. “If a flight is canceled, you have the right to get the money back for your ticket,” she said. “But we found that in the pandemic, passengers were often forced to accept vouchers instead of the refunds they were supposed to be entitled to.” Vouchers also have the disadvantage that they are generally not protected against airline bankruptcy.

State aid without conditions

The EU states had an effective instrument at their disposal to enforce passenger rights. After all, governments took massive aid under the wings of many airlines: According to the Court of Auditors, 34.7 billion euros in government support went to airlines and tour operators across the EU.

However, the governments did not use this leverage, says Turtelboom. “EU governments could have insisted that airlines, as a precondition for receiving this money, compensate passengers whose flights have been canceled. That would have been a really useful means of securing passenger rights,” she says. “But no EU country has used it.”

In Germany, Lufthansa was supported with nine billion euros and Condor with 550 million euros. According to a spokesman, reimbursements were possible at any time at Lufthansa. Accordingly, the group has reimbursed 4.5 billion euros since the beginning of the pandemic – that was around 11.3 million tickets.

Corona – an exceptional case?

The Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry BDL admits problems with ticket reimbursement during the pandemic. Managing Director Matthias von Randow sees Corona as an exceptional case. “Even if the tickets have now been reimbursed, that was extremely unpleasant for many customers. We consider it dishonest to use this unique special situation as an opportunity to completely question the otherwise functioning system,” he said.

The situation could change quickly, however, stressed the Green MEP Rasmus Andresen. Among other things, he is responsible for consumer protection in the EU Parliament. According to Andresen, the delta variant of the virus, which is currently spreading in Portugal, shows that it is still very unsafe to fly on summer vacation: “That is why it would be an indictment if the chaos from the first lockdown were to repeat itself. Air travelers have the right to reimbursement and they must be given the opportunity to enforce this right, “he says. “That is why we urgently need more initiatives from the EU Commission and the German government to ensure this.”

The European Court of Auditors suggests that passengers should be better informed about their rights and that they also get their rights – for example through a guarantee fund for reimbursements, the obligation to compensate companies that receive state aid and better data exchange.