EU Travel & Consumer Groups Want Passenger Protection from Airline Bankruptcies

Photo source: European Parliament

Travel and tourism bodies are calling on the European Commission to introduce a mandatory insolvency protection scheme in the airline sector that will safeguard European consumers, industry, and insurance providers, ECTAA and EUTT said this week.

More specifically, in a letter to the Commission on Thursday, ECTAA, the umbrella organization for Europe’s travel agents and tour operators, EU travel tech (EUTT), consumer groups and insurance providers are requesting “better protection of passengers and their rights” and ensuring airlines provide financial guarantees covering their liabilities towards passengers in case of insolvency.

“An effective protection of all actors impacted by an airline bankruptcy can only be achieved by an obligation to introduce a mandatory insolvency protection mechanism in the airline sector,” they said in the letter.

Referring to “sudden disappearances of airlines”, the associations and groups go on to add that airlines should cover for the “risks stemming from their own activities”.

Indicatively, according to a 2020 Commission study, 87 airlines went bankrupt between 2011 and 2019 impacting 5.6 million consumers.

The groups go on to add that other measures such as encouraging consumers to purchase travel insurance or appointing national authorities dealing with repatriations to remedy the disruptions and financial losses caused by airline insolvencies are not fair on consumers, member states and taxpayers.

Photo source: European Commission

“Travel agents and tour operators have been long advocating for the introduction of insolvency protection obligations for airlines, mirroring the existing obligations in the Package Travel Directive,” said ECTAA Secretary General Eric Drésin.

“The creation of mandatory airline insolvency protection should be coupled with the strengthening of the licensing oversight of EU air carriers, but stronger monitoring should under no circumstances replace the need for mandatory airline insolvency protection,” added EU travel tech Secretary General Emmanuel Mounier.