EU airlines will refund money for flights canceled during the pandemic

A group of European airlines from the European Union (EU) agreed on Thursday to return money to passengers whose flights were canceled during the Covid-19 pandemic. And it has committed itself to providing passengers with better information about their rights in the future. Following negotiations with the European Commission, 16 airlines have agreed to pay back pending refund requests, to better inform passengers when they cancel flights, and to offer replacement vouchers only to those who choose to do so. Air France-KLM, British Airways, Easyjet, Lufthansa, Ryanair, TAP and Wizz Air took part in the negotiations, among others. "In the early stages of the pandemic, some airlines have forced vouchers on passengers," European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said in a statement. "They acted in breach of EU consumer protection rules. That was unacceptable, "he said. National authorities are responsible for enforcing consumer protection laws. European laws and the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Regulation have set up a network to coordinate law enforcement on these issues. According to the European Commission, refunds for air tickets are the largest consumer protection cooperation action in the history of the CPC Network and the first action based on Commission alerts. "Airlines violated the rights of European consumers during the pandemic," said Monique Goyens, director general of the European consumer organization CEUC, who led the EU complaint in July 2020. She added that it was time for airlines to "tidy up", as many consumers across Europe were still waiting for a refund for flights canceled during the first restrictions in 2020. EU Transport Commissioner Adina Valean also welcomed the agreement, adding that it would restore trust between passengers and airlines.