Consider this situation. You’re set to take the European trip you have long been looking forward to. Your excitement is at sky high levels while the bags are packed and all hotels are booked. Everything appears delightful until you get the news that your airline went out of business. Now, like countless other travelers, you are in the same predicament ever since Air Belgium suspended its passenger flights.
Air Belgium once offered extensive comfortable flights throughout Europe, now – is a cargo airline ever since being bought by shipping bohemoth CMA CGM. They set their sights on a Belgian court for total liquidation plans set to commence on 30th April 2025. In other words – their death as an airline is inevitable from a passenger standpoint.
When Air Belgium suspended all flights with no prior warning in September 2023, they asserted that all customers booking for the rest of the year would get a full refund. Now, that claim becomes null and void due to the bankruptcy. There is no doubt now that this collection of claims lies buried under a mass of claims with no viable means of recovering money without incurring costs.
What is worse Travel agencies and tour operators who sold those tickets are in a double bind. Legally, they have to provide rebooking or alternatives for their clientele, further expense airline tickets already paid for will result in losses, and customer satisfaction which now has to be subsidized.
If ever ECTAA (that’s the European travel agents’ association) needs to be introduced as their damage assessment claims tend to be quite around €8 million in unpaid refund claims and over €5 million of that came out of travel agents and tour operator bookings. ECTAA President Frank Oostdam bluntly stated: “This situation is totally unfair.” Frank, looks like you have a point.
Now, he is defending paying policies. In his words, No current EU regulations go anywhere close to,”protecting people when airlines go belly up,” so there’s a lot of work needed there. Frank and his team are pushing to impose some minimum to the level of protection guarantee refunds in case it gets ugly augh level for airlines.
The new text justifies my arguments in Ways B and C (quote: X) as the EU is still considering the air passenger rights law. This golden period gives an opportunity for changes to be brought about. ECTAA seems to suggest, “don’t wait for another airline catastrophe to happen to end this problem.”
While the shift to cargo does result in 124 saved positions (74 pilots), this does not ease the suffering of travelers and agents who are completely detached. No news does not mean an improvement. In this instance, silence indicates no reimbursements, no communication, and only enduring harsh, financial wounds.
In this case, your airline going under mid-operational cycle should not put the onus on you and your travel agent to navigate the wreckage.
