The SPÖ has submitted a parliamentary motion to limit the prepayment of flight bookings. Other than a small deposit, payment for the flight booking must not be made until the day the service is provided (“when the flight is dispatched”). Furthermore, there should be legal protection in the event of insolvency for airlines, as is already the case for package travel operators.
“Travellers usually have to pay for their airline tickets at the time of booking. With holiday trips, this can often be months in advance. This practice disadvantages passengers, as flight cancellations are almost always at the expense of the traveler,” SPÖ consumer protection spokesperson Christian Drobits told the APA, stressing: “This must end.”
Vouchers instead of refunds illegal
In the event of a cancellation, consumers would currently have to make arduous and sometimes lengthy efforts to get their money back. The current legal situation requires airlines to refund passengers the ticket price for canceled flights, but many airlines have instead forced their customers to accept vouchers, which Drobits says is illegal.
The motion for a resolution also asks the federal government to work at European level to ensure that prepayment restrictions for flight bookings are included in the passenger rights regulation.
Source: Krone
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