16 Major EU Airlines Reimburse Over 500,000 Flights Vouchers for Flights Cancelled During COVID Pandemic

According to the Commission of the European Union, the reimbursement of vouchers is a result of the dialogue with the Consumer Protection Network conducted back in 2021 to address the consequences of flight cancellations in the early stages of the pandemic.

“Following dialogues with the Commission and national consumer authorities during 2021, 16 major airlines made far-reaching commitments to bring their practices back in line with EU consumer and passenger rights law with regard to flight cancellations,” the statement of the Commission reads.

The commitments came after the Commission and the national consumer authorities had called on airlines to improve the way how they deal with cancellations in the context of the COVID pandemic, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

The 16 airlines committed to measures to bring their practices in line with the EU consumer and passengers’ rights law are Air France, Aegean Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Alitalia, British Airways, EasyJet, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Ryanair, TAP, Vueling, and Wizz Air.

The commitments made by these airlines include clearing reimbursement backlogs and reimbursing passengers promptly; offering consumers the possibility to exchange for money in all cases where consumers had no choice but to accept vouchers; and better-informing consumers of their cancellation-related rights.

“The information provided by the airlines shows that airlines have swiftly changed their practices in accordance with their commitments and that issues are encountered only in a limited number of complex cases,” Commission stated.

The Commission explains that the reports of the airlines on the implementation of the commitments show that they cleared the bulk of reimbursement backlogs as well as adapted their email, websites, and other forms of communication to better inform consumers of their rights when a flight is cancelled.

In addition, the airlines have contacted over 2.5 million consumers holding unused vouchers that had been pushed on them, thus, giving them the opportunity to exchange the vouchers. Of the total 2.5 million consumers, over 500,000 of them have been able to take advantage of this opportunity and get their money back.

The implementation of the commitments by the airlines was welcomed by the Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders. However, he called on airlines to keep up with these efforts, especially now that travellers are experiencing numerous delays and cancellations.

Reynders said that the EU authorities would follow up and check how passengers will be reimbursed to ensure a diligent and strict application of EU rules.