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The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has carried out the threat a few days ago and will take to the commercial courts some airlines that are supposedly carrying out unfair commercial practices by omitting information to customers about their right to reimbursement when the company cancels a flight.

This has been confirmed by the Department directed by Alberto Garzón in a statement in which he assures that "he will request the cessation action against at least 17 airlines for a series of breaches in the information they offer to travelers about their rights in the event of cancellation of flights "derived after the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 17 companies affected by the measure are Air Europa, Air France, Binter Canarias, EasyJet, Eurowings, Iberia (Iberia Express and Air Nostrum), Jet 2, KLM, Latam Airlines, Lufthansa, Ryanair, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Transavia, Thomson Airways (TUI), United Airlines, Volotea and Wizzair.

According to the document, Consumo has detected that these companies are developing an unfair commercial practice by omitting information on the right to reimbursement within a period of seven days that is required by European Community regulations and the General Law of Defense of Consumers and Users.

In this way, the Ministry wants to end this business practice right now and with a view to the future. Likewise, it requests that all contracts by which travelers have accepted a substitute refund voucher be declared void if it has been acquired through flawed consent. "That is, when the airline has not informed the user of this right and has offered the bonus as the only option .

The measure, which had been previously considered by the Executive, has been carried out on Monday after a meeting of the ministerial managers with the autonomous communities, although Minister Garzón himself had previously requested the airlines to stop these practices. In the absence of a positive response from him, he has decided to go to court.

European regulation

European regulations establish that, before canceling a flight, airlines must offer travelers a refund of their money within seven days; driving to the final destination as quickly as possible, or driving to the destination on a date that suits the traveler.

The European Commission allows airlines to issue vouchers as an attractive and reliable alternative to money reimbursement, but notes the voluntary nature of acceptance of the voucher by the passenger or traveler. In case of not being accepted by the client, the airline must reimburse the total amount of the ticket within seven days of the passenger's request.

Specifically, redemption in the form of a voucher is only possible with the agreement of the passenger. Therefore, in the event that the passenger has accepted the voucher without the company clearly offering them the option of reimbursement as an alternative, this consent will be considered flawed, as they do not have all the relevant information. In such case, the consumer will continue to maintain his right to reimbursement.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs considers that the misleading omission of relevant information by airlines when offering redeemable vouchers to travelers constitutes an unfair commercial practice through a clear defect in consent and a breach of regulations.

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  • Iberia
  • Lufthansa
  • Ryanair
  • European Comission
  • Alberto Garzón

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