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Hofmann's recommendations

What should I do if my airline goes bankrupt?

November has claimed two more victims in the airline industry in Europe. Firstly, the likeable regional airline from Vorarlberg, Intersky. Founded in 2001 by Renate Moser, the airline had no luck finding a strategic investor, with the last talks falling through. Estonian Air, from Estonia, also announced that it would no longer operate flights from November 8 and would cease operations.

There is no question that there are still too many airlines in Europe. This is demonstrated, for example, by the fact that Eurowings immediately announced that it would take over the routes from Friedrichshafen to Berlin and Cologne after the Intersky grounding became known. The Scandinavian airline SAS immediately used the Estonian Air bankruptcy to launch additional connections to Tallinn in Estonia from Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm.

But what do you do if it affects you personally as a passenger? What do I do if my airline suddenly goes bankrupt? This varies from case to case and there is hardly a rule for this. The example of Intersky shows that tickets that had already been purchased became de facto worthless. Whether the owners will receive a partial refund depends on the outcome of the insolvency proceedings. However, the prospects are bleak. Those who have booked a package tour that included a flight with InterSky are better off. In this case, the tour operator is liable.

One recommendation is the FairPlane portal when it comes to problems with air travel. This portal specializes in flight delays or flight cancellations, for example, and calculates what compensation the passenger can receive for legal reasons.

Incidentally, most airlines in Europe go bankrupt in February or March if they are in enormous financial difficulties. The reason: winter and especially the first quarter of a new year are challenging for any airline and profits are almost non-existent. If an airline is already chronically short of money, this lean time of year can be the death knell.

Kurt Hofmann



Connoisseur Circle Reiseservice GmbH Mariahilfer Straße 88a/II/2a 1070 Wien, Austria +43 1 890 69 77-24, +43 1 890 69 77-10, office@ccircle.cc
 

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