Air passengers’ rights have not been safeguarded in the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
The ECA claims that although airlines are legally required to give passengers their money back if they cancel flights, “many airlines forced their customers to accept vouchers, instead, a practice which is unlawful”. The EU auditors also point out that airlines and package-tour operators received billions of euros of state aid, “aid which was provided without being conditional on passengers being reimbursed”.
“Among its many consequences, the pandemic has had a harmful effect on EU air passenger rights”, said Annemie Turtelboom, the member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the report. “While every effort has been made to support airlines and package-tour operators, far too little has been done to secure the rights of millions of people in the EU.”
The ECA highlights the fact that overall, EU Member States put almost €35 billion of public money on the table for airlines between March 2020 and April 2021, but adds that those Member States did not “explicitly make the granting of aid to airlines contingent upon the reimbursement of passengers, even though the Commission, within the scope of its limited possibilities in the area of passenger rights, did make it clear that they could do so”.
Based on their conclusions, EU auditors address specific recommendations to the European Commission to better safeguard the rights of air passengers.
The ECA presents its special reports to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, as well as to other interested parties such as national parliaments, industry stakeholders and representatives of civil society. The vast majority of the recommendations made in the reports are put into practice.
The European Regions Airlines Association (ERA) has criticised the ECA report for tarring all airlines will the same brush. “The reality is that most airlines – particularly small to medium-sized operators – have not received any state aid during the pandemic, but still refunded passenger tickets in accordance with the regulation and incentivised the use of vouchers due to their shortage of cash.
If airlines who received state aid are expected to have provided passenger compensation, those specific airlines should be named instead of unfairly making a generalisation that all airlines are guilty of not complying with their passenger rights obligations.”
The ERA adds that it “strongly believes the global pandemic to be an extraordinary circumstance under regulation EU261 given its scale and the effects on society” and that despite the unprecedented situation airlines have found themselves in, “the majority of operators have made every effort to continue providing high-quality customer service, of which in some cases included providing vouchers”.
Montserrat Barriga, ERA Director General, says: “This Special Report by the ECA is an unfair representation of European airlines and casts blanketed aspersions on an industry already extremely damaged by the COVID crisis. Many airlines continue to work tirelessly to survive whilst reorganising their fleet, staff and operations, and whilst having to still adapt to extremely low revenue levels. They are now being challenged regarding their handling of passenger rights during a global pandemic, something that can surely only be described as an extraordinary circumstance – a situation that was not anticipated.
“ERA would like to highlight the essential air services provided by airlines during the pandemic, and the role of European aviation, during the worst months of COVID and the recovery period to protect jobs, competition, consumer choice and regional development. Europe’s diverse range of airline operators provide a broad range of services for consumers including essential regional connectivity and vital air links. It is of the utmost importance that our industry is supported so we can start to rebuild our sector following the worst crisis in our industry’s history.”