The airlines are not responsible for the massive flight cancellations this year due to Corona. But many customers are upset because they have to chase after them for repayments. The guidelines are actually clear.
Berlin (dpa) - Lufthansa encounters criticism from the Ministry of Economic Affairs due to outstanding ticket refunds in the Corona crisis.
"It is incomprehensible that Lufthansa, despite the massive state aid, has not yet met its legal obligations and does not repay customers their money immediately," said State Secretary for Economic Affairs Ulrich Nussbaum the "Spiegel" (online). It is a "question of trust". During the negotiations on the Lufthansa aid package, people said that the Federal Government was "very important" with the issue.
Consumers are still waiting for ticket refunds
After the massive flight cancellations in the Corona crisis, many consumers are still waiting weeks and months later for the legally binding reimbursement of their tickets. The companies actually have to reimburse the ticket price within seven days. Consumer advocates and aviation rights portals agree that the airlines, with a few exceptions, have deliberately delayed payments. Sections of the opposition are calling for government agencies to take tough action against airlines that are unwilling to pay.
When it comes to reimbursements, there is criticism at Lufthansa, particularly against the background that the airline had to be saved by the state with billions. Together with State Secretary for Finance Jörg Kukies, Nussbaum was in charge of the negotiations on the Lufthansa package.
"We are in excellent contact with the German federal government on the subject of reimbursements," said a Lufthansa spokeswoman at the weekend in response to Nussbaum's statements. In total, more than 2 billion euros have been paid out to the entire Lufthansa Group in 2020. Flights from March and April have already been largely processed. Less than a billion euros in reimbursements are still outstanding.
Anger over lack of information
In the experience of Heinz Klewe, Managing Director of the Arbitration Board for Public Transport (SÖP), consumers understand that the seven-day period cannot be kept in view of the effects of the corona. But: "You get very angry if you don't receive any information or if the announced period for reimbursement is postponed from one month to the next."
The SÖP alone received more than 6,800 complaints in July, of which the vast majority (86 percent) related to flights. There were also complaints about train tickets. In June the total number was a good 5500, in July 2019 - without the Corona effect - around 2200. The SÖP numbers are available to the German Press Agency. "Welt am Sonntag" had previously reported on it.
This year the number of complaints to the SÖP about flights by the end of July totaled more than 18,000. Compared to the same period in the previous year, this corresponds to an increase of around 50 percent. By the end of July 2020, almost 3,200 complaints were received about train tickets. Here the percentage increase was somewhat lower.
As a result of the corona pandemic, air traffic almost completely collapsed in mid-March and thousands of flights were canceled. Lufthansa and other companies had initially relied on accepting customers with vouchers. However, this failed because of the EU Commission. At the beginning of July a law was passed in the Bundestag on how such vouchers should be designed. But nobody has to accept it, consumers can still have their money reimbursed.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200810-99-111390 / 2
