The rights of package holidaymakers are being strengthened even more extensively. Travellers are also insured against the insolvency of the tour operator if they cancel their trip beforehand due to unavoidable and exceptional circumstances: this was the ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) yesterday.
The background to this are two cases in Austria and Belgium: The travelers withdrew from their package tours in 2020 because of the corona pandemic, and after their tour operator went bankrupt, they demanded their money back. The insurers refused, pointing out that only the risk of bankruptcy was insured, but that the travelers had canceled beforehand. The national courts then asked the ECJ to interpret the Package Travel Directive. The ECJ made it clear that travelers who have canceled due to unavoidable circumstances should not be treated differently. In the event of bankruptcy, they are entitled to a full refund. The ECJ only answers questions about the interpretation of EU law, but does not rule on specific cases.
According to the EU Package Travel Directive, travellers who have opted for this type of travel are already very well protected. A package holiday exists when at least two different types of travel services are combined for the same trip and the trip lasts at least 24 hours or overnight. Travel services can include accommodation, transport or car rental.
In Austria, the Package Travel Act stipulates that tour operators must specify a liquidator in their travel documents that consumers can turn to in the event of insolvency. This is usually an insurance company or a bank. In the event of an emergency, these are also responsible for return transport. If the trip has not yet begun, they will refund the deposit.
AUA rescue was legal
The ECJ also ruled in the final instance that aid from the Republic of Austria in the amount of 150 million euros for the airline AUA in the Corona year 2020 was lawful. The lawsuit against the state rescue was brought by competitors Ryanair and Laudamotion. According to the ECJ, a country can grant aid to an individual company for objective reasons to make good damage caused by an extraordinary event.
This article was updated at 6:24 p.m.
