Among other things, 16 European airlines have committed to promptly reimburse passengers canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision was made after talks with the European Commission. In addition, carriers are to better inform travelers about their rights.
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Airlines including Air France, Alitalia, British Airways, EasyJet, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Ryanair and Wizz Air are expected to pay their customers overdue funds within one week.
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16 airlines will reimburse the flights canceled by the pandemic
In addition, the carriers undertook to better inform passengers of canceled flights about their rights. Travelers are to be informed of all forms of compensation and may not be reimbursed in the form of vouchers that can be used on future flights.
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– In the early phase of the pandemic, some airlines pressured passengers to accept vouchers. This was contrary to European consumer protection law. It was unacceptable, said EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders in a statement.
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Most of the airlines included in the agreement agreed that people who accepted vouchers from airlines in the first months of the pandemic could exchange them for cash.
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The agreement ended the intervention of the European Commission initiated at the request of the organization associating European consumer rights protection groups (BEUC). The EC transferred the case to the network of European Consumer Protection Authorities (CPC). As the European Commission informed, it was the largest joint action to protect the rights of European consumers.
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– During the pandemic, airlines broke consumer rights on a massive scale (…), the time has come to cleanse their image. Many customers across Europe are still waiting for refunds for flights canceled during the first lockdowns in 2020, BEUC CEO Monique Goyens said in a statement.
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photo-source">Main photo source: Shutterstock
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