Flyers entitled to cash refund on axed flights
TRAVELLERS whose flight were axed because of the coronavirus pandemic are entitled to a cash refund, the European Commission ruled yesterday.
It is now planning to take legal action against countries, including Ireland, that are breaching EU law by not insisting that companies should reimburse customers over cancelled travel or holidays.
The move is a major embarrassment for the Taoiseach and his caretaker government as they had been accused of siding with the airlines after it emerged Irish civil servants signed a letter to the EC calling for a temporary change to consumer laws cancelling cash refunds.
Commission Vice-president Margrethe Vestager urged airlines and travel firms to create incentives for people to accept vouchers but warned EU citizens have a fundamental right to a cash refund.
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BREACH
She said: “As of today, where we have taken the commission’s decision on this, letters will be sent to the member states who are in breach of this very fundamental principle.”
The move comes as the EU unveiled its plan to help citizens across its 27 nations salvage their summer holidays after months of coronavirus confinement in the hope of resurrecting Europe’s battered tourism industry.
The three-stage approach, stars with the current situation in which most non-essential travel across borders is banned.
The second phase will see restrictions begin to be lifted between countries with similar rates of coronavirus infections and comparable health systems.
The final phase will see all coronavirus-related border controls lifted although no date for this has been proposed.
Ms Vestager added: “This is not going to be a normal summer... but when we all do our part we don’t have to face a summer stuck at home or completely lost for tourism.”