Airline's Duty in Flight Cancellations: EU's Demand for Refunding Booking Fees via Intermediaries
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Get the lowdown on the latest European Court of Justice (ECJ) opinion that Air Europa, a Spanish airline, must pony up the booking fees for passengers if their flight gets axed. The ruling is significant because it concerns flights booked through Opodo, a popular travel booking portal.
In the case, passengers had forked over around 2053 euros for tickets to destinations via Dutch airline KLM. Unfortunately, KLM called off the flights, refunding the passengers only around 1958 euros, with the missing 95.14 euros being Opodo's commission. The difference didn't sit well with the Austrian Association for Consumer Information, who took legal action on behalf of the passengers.
KLM tried to defend themselves, stating that they hadn't agreed to the commission with Opodo, neither had they approved its amount.
In his conclusions, Advocate General Norkus proposed that EU's Air Passenger Rights Regulation of 2004 be interpreted to cover the booking fee in flight cancellation refunds. The airline can only escape repaying the fee if they can prove they were unaware of it and didn't approve it. This isn't a new principle, as the ECJ had announced the same stance back in 2018.
However, Norkus highlighted that KLM had been partnering with Opodo for "at least a decade" and even had a contract in place, stipulating bonus amounts for Opodo based on ticket sales. Such a "long-standing" relationship between the airline and the middleman is usually enough to prove the airline's knowledge of the imposed fee, implying their tacit approval.
Refunds and Cancellations: A Look at EU261
Europe's Air Passenger Rights Regulation 261/2004 (EU261) governs the refunding of booking fees in cancellation scenarios, extended to include intermediaries like Opodo when dealing with airlines such as KLM.
- Re-booking or Refund: Passengers are within their rights to select either a re-booking on an alternative flight or a full refund of their ticket price in cases of flight cancellations. The airline is expected to offer this choice promptly.
- Refund Timeframe: If passengers choose the refund option, they are entitled to their money back—for both used and unused tickets—within a week of the cancellation.
Middlemen's Role in the Refund Process
- Reimbursement Flow: When tickets are bought through intermediaries, the airline must refund them within a week, using the same payment method used for the booking. The reimbursement is tracked via the original booking reference.
- Intermediary's Refund Obligation: The intermediary then needs to reimburse the passenger within 7 more days, using the initial payment method. They're also required to inform both the airline and the passenger about the refund status.
- Notification and Follow-up: If the passenger doesn't receive the refund within 14 days of picking the refund option or if the airline doesn't verify the payment within this period, the airline is obligated to reach out to the passenger to address the issue.
It's crucial to remember that EU261 binds airlines such as KLM to follow these refund rules in cases of flight cancellations. Thanks to their long-term relationships with intermediaries like Opodo, the regulation promotes transparency and clarity in the refund process between passengers, airlines, and middlemen. This approach aims to facilitate efficient refunds for passengers, even when they book through third parties.
In a nutshell, the Air Passenger Rights Regulation 261/2004 mandates EU airlines to refund booking fees within 7 days to intermediaries like Opodo, who must then reimburse passengers within 7 days. This system ensures a transparent and timely refund process in case of flight cancellations, protecting passengers while defining roles for the airlines and intermediaries.
- In the case of flight cancellations, the European Air Passenger Rights Regulation 261/2004 (EU261) mandates airlines like KLM to refund booking fees not only to the airline but also to intermediaries such as Opodo within 7 days.
- When a passenger selects a refund of their ticket price in a flight cancellation scenario, the intermediary, having received the refund from the airline within 7 days, is obligated to reimburse the passenger within an additional 7 days using the initial payment method, maintaining transparency and clarity in the refund process.
