The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) is set to lobby the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in a bid to force airlines to pay what it estimates as being “several hundreds of millions of euro” in outstanding refunds.
Some airlines apparently flew near-empty jets, last summer, in order to keep flights open, while customers were forced to cancel their due to the government’s advice not to travel.
Airlines are only legally obliged to refund customers when the flight is grounded and does not fly.
ITAA Chief Executive Pat Dawson said: “We believe that current legislation on refunds from airlines must be changed in the interest of consumers. Due to restrictions on non-essential travel, consumers were advised not to travel, and now are not eligible for a refund from their airline.
“The Association feels that this is extremely unfair on consumers who paid money in good faith for holidays that they couldn’t go on, and is calling on the Government to take action to protect consumers’ rights.”
This move from the ITAA comes on the back of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launching an investigation into whether airlines in Britain broke the law by denying refunds to customers for flights they couldn’t legally take due to Covid travel restrictions.
