Malta has joined 11 other EU member states to call on the European Commission to temporarily suspend the law that forces airlines to give passengers refunds for cancelled flights. 

As passengers all over Europe voiced their anger over being offered vouchers after flights were cancelled, citing the EU law to back their claims for refunds, 12 governments banded together to call for the temporary change. 

The 11 other members states behind the call are Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, France, Ireland, Latvia, Holland, Poland and Portugal.

All commercial flights in and out of Malta have been suspended since March 21.

In the letter, the member states said because of the law and “its obligation to reimburse cancelled tickets in cash”, airlines are being placed in “a difficult situation where they are facing a serious cash flow challenge”.

“When the wording of the regulation was conceived, the current global crisis and its impact on air travel could not have been foreseen. 

“The goal shared by the European Union and its Member States must now be to preserve the structure of the European air traffic market beyond the current crisis, while considering the interests and necessary protection of passengers,” the 12 countries said. 

Inside Malta's desolate International Airport after the coronavirus flight shutdown. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

What do the 12 countries want?

The group is proposing that the law is amended to allow airlines to choose the means by which passengers are reimbursed, with a set of guidelines to be followed by all member states.

“Such a temporary rule would be a solution for current cash flow constraints of airlines while preserving the competitiveness of European aviation, and maintaining harmonized criteria of application on a European scale so as to allow a common and adequate level of consumer protection,” the member states argued. 

The 12 countries also urged stakeholders, including those form the aviation sector and consumer organisations, to “join their efforts in order to reach a constructive and common solution”.

“We believe that regulating the temporary issuance of vouchers is possible and acceptable for consumers, if some key principles are taken into account: transparent information to the passenger, non-discrimination, a common length of voucher validity, maximum flexibility of use and a clear right of reimbursement immediately at the end of validity in the event of non-use of vouchers.”

They also called for passengers issued with vouchers to be protected against the risk of bankruptcy of the airlines issuing these vouchers. 

What does the law state?

The law the countries referred to - Regulation EC (No) 261/2004 - states that passengers are entitled to reimbursement “within seven days of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant”.

Industry sources have told Times of Malta the regulation does not cater for a situation whereby airlines are forced to cancel all their flights because of a global pandemic.

Air Malta has so far offered its passengers four options - a full refund, booking a new trip within a year, booking the same flight when they are ready to travel again and getting a travel voucher.