Position Paper

Air Cancellations: How to Better Protect Consumers

As Europe begins to draw its first lessons from the handling of the COVID-19 crisis, the issue of air ticket cancellations and the impact of airlines’ practices on consumers are at the top of mind of not only policymakers, but also European travellers experiencing continued uncertainty about their upcoming holidays. It is thus crucial to identify the EU’s key shortcomings regarding consumer protection in air travel over the past 16 months and to discuss how to fix them. Airlines, tourism operators and intermediaries ultimately rely on consumers’ willingness to travel and trust their service providers. This trust should be enhanced by EU policymakers.

In the position paper below, eu travel tech sets out its vision for a renewed framework for consumer protection in case of air cancellations. It is our belief that the travel & tourism sector should draw lessons from this crisis and re-emerge with a consumer-focused outlook, guided by relevant changes to EU legislation.