18 cases per day – Huge increase in travel complaints

As the saying goes: everyone who travels has a lot to say. Very often, however, things don’t get that far because flights or train journeys are delayed or canceled altogether. Those affected are often faced with a very difficult journey to get their ticket refunded and compensation paid. Before you can contact apf, you must claim your rights with the airline or train company yourself – which is not always possible. As a rule, AUA, Ryanair, ÖBB, WESTBahn & Co. six weeks to respond to questions. Only then can the customer contact apf.

18 dispute resolution requests per calendar day – a record
Last year, 6,610 applications (+12 percent) were received and examined. This resulted in 4,878 arbitration procedures (2022: 4,242), also a record number. The vast majority of these, approximately 80 percent (3,856 procedures), involve air travel.

The biggest problem with air travel was cancellations
When it comes to air travel, passengers’ biggest frustration was canceled flights (58 percent of the time). Nearly four in ten applicants were affected by delays. Four percent had to deal with ‘denied boarding’, for example due to overbooking. In such cases, the affected person is entitled, among other things, to compensation of up to 600 euros, unless the reason was exceptional circumstances (e.g. bad weather, volcanic eruption). In total, apf raised almost 2.3 million euros for customers in the aviation sector. About a third of the cases occurred on Vienna’s largest airline, AUA. Second place (23 percent) goes to Wizz, followed by Ryanair (eleven percent) and Lufthansa (five percent).

The railway not only had a record number of applications (1307), but also a record high of around 203,000 euros in payments to travelers. Four in ten cases involved ticket refunds, and 22 percent involved disputes over fines, for example due to ‘wrong’ tickets. APF boss Maria-Thérèsia Röhsler criticizes the fact that refundable train tickets, despite timely cancellation, are in principle not refunded after they have been printed by the customer. This is unique in Europe.

This is how those affected get their rights
Anyone affected by a flight cancellation or delay should certainly demand their rights. First directly with the airline or train company. If there is no response or an unsatisfactory response (the period is six weeks), you must contact apf. This can be done via the website www.passenger.at or by telephone on +43/1/5050707 and the extension numbers 710 (train), 720 (bus), 730 (ship) and 740 for air traffic problems. The application itself must in any case be submitted in writing and contain all documents. The success rate of the procedures carried out by the Agency for Passengers and Passenger Rights is certainly impressive. Only three percent end without an agreement. A major advantage for consumers, even compared to service providers such as FairPlane, who compete for compensation for their customers: the APF service is free.

This year fewer complaints about flights and more about train travel
This year is divided into two parts in terms of complaints. While the number of requests regarding air travel is decreasing, the number of contacts regarding problems regarding train travel continues to increase. According to Röhsler, the most recent failures at the AUA have not yet been noticed at apf. One reason may be that, as mentioned, the airline has six weeks to respond to questions.