SkyGreece May Face Compensation Claims

Stranded passengers are filing complaints with the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA) against SkyGreece airlines, which stopped operations last week leaving hundreds of customers in the lurk.

Although the Canadian-based start-up said it expects to resume operations “soon” without naming a specific date, the CTA said a demand had been made requesting 8.7 million dollars be set aside as securities against potential claims.

According to Canadian media, the application, filed by passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs last week, is a result of the discount airline’s failure to provide  an alternative mode of transportation within 24 hours for some 1,000 affected passengers, which violates the company’s tariff. SkyGreece regulations state that in the event of a cancelled flight, the airline must provide an alternative flight on their own airline or another carrier within a reasonable time, or a refund, based on the passenger’s choice. 

Mr Lukacs said complaints about the airline had been coming in since late July, following a series of delays and cancellations.

SkyGreece said it would “temporarily cease all operations” last Thursday, citing among other things the economic crisis in Greece for its setbacks. In the meantime, it has shut down its social media pages, and its website only lists an email address.

Canadian media report that the CTA responded last week to Lukacs’ claims, saying that “SkyGreece has until 5 pm Gatineau time on Monday, August 31, 2015 to file a response to Dr Lukacs’s request for an expedited process.”

Launched in 2012 by a group of Greek-Canadian entrepreneurs, SkyGreece’s main mission was to offer non-stop flights between Greece and North America, catering to the Greek diaspora community.