BUSINESS NEWS


Passenger figures in April just 8% down on 2019


Leading holiday destinations and UK airports have led the recovery in European air traffic, the latest flight data reveals. Passenger numbers at Europe’s


airports returned to within 8% of 2019 levels in April, according of airports association ACI Europe. Director general Olivier


Jankovec hailed the figures as


“remarkable” when “the increase in airfares is more than six times above consumer price inflation”. However, Jankovec noted “significant variations” across


Palma de Mallorca handled 9% more passengers


Europe, with major network carriers such as Lufthansa and British Airways owner IAG maintaining “tight capacity management”. Passenger numbers in Greece


and Portugal were 11% up on 2019, while Cyprus saw a 12% rise. Palma de Mallorca saw almost 9% more traffic this April than in 2019, as did Tenerife, and Malaga recorded an 11% rise in visitors. Traffic in Spain overall was almost 3% up on 2019. The UK was the strongest of


the major outbound markets, with passenger traffic 9% down on April 2019, while France remained 13% down and Germany 26% down.


Tribunal stays application in ‘£1.5bn’ card fees case


Ian Taylor


The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) declined to allow four class-action claims for repayment of card-processing fees by Visa and Mastercard to go to trial on behalf of UK travel and hospitality firms last week. But the court granted lawyers


bringing the class action, or ‘collective proceedings’, eight weeks to present revised proposals and ‘stayed’ the legal applications until then, despite opposition from Mastercard and Visa. The ruling followed a three-day


hearing in April into four separate collective claims over ‘multilateral interchange fees’ (MIFs) charged by Visa and Mastercard on corporate card and overseas visitors’ card payments. Law firm Harcus Parker launched


the claim in April last year alleging Visa and Mastercard forced banks to agree an “anti-competitive and unlawful” level of MIFs. It estimates


travelweekly.co.uk


the collective claim could be worth in excess of £1.5 billion to travel and hospitality businesses (Travel Weekly, April 7, 2022). Businesses pay these fees to banks,


but the charges are set by Visa and Mastercard and make up most of the merchant service charges (MSCs) which banks levy on card payments. Visa and Mastercard, in turn, receive ‘scheme fees’ from the banks. The hearing highlighted the


challenges of bringing a class action claim in the UK. Mastercard and Visa opposed the claims on several grounds, not least that thousands of merchants have already sued them over these fees, with more than 2,300 UK claimants currently suing Visa. The court noted that failed


collective proceedings could hinder the rights of individual businesses to take legal action. In a statement, Harcus Parker


said: “The CAT has accepted proceedings are necessary to enable access to justice for the


Card firms say claim is ‘flawed’


many merchants who would otherwise struggle to obtain redress, and rejected Mastercard and Visa’s arguments that collective proceedings were not necessary. “The CAT has invited us to revise


our proposals.” However, a Mastercard


spokesperson described the claim as “fundamentally flawed”, saying: “We’re encouraged by the court’s decision and believe that if a revised claim is made, it should equally fail.”


15 JUNE 2023


József Váradi


47


Wizz takes steps to avoid repeat of summer disruption


Wizz Air highlighted the measures it has taken to avoid a repeat of the disruption to passengers and flights of last summer as it reported a loss of €535 million for the 12 months to March. The loss was in stark contrast


to rival Ryanair, which last month resported a €1.43 billion profit for the same period. Carriers normally lose money over the winter, but Wizz lost €384 million through the six months to September 2022, despite a strong recovery following the lifting of pandemic restrictions. Wizz chief executive József


Váradi insisted it was “a year of significant growth for the business”, noting the airline carried 51 million passengers, with capacity up 76% year on year and 40% higher than pre-pandemic in 2019-20. However, he admitted: “It was a


difficult year, especially in the first half of the financial year. The war in Ukraine significantly affected our network and we had to reshuffle capacity. We were not resilient enough to fully operate the airline and that resulted in a lot of distress.” Váradi noted Wizz suffered a


cancellation rate of 4% in June last year and said: “Operations were a pain point.” He added: “We’ve put in a lot of measures – increasing spare aircraft, creating standby pilots and cabin crew. We’re a lot more robust.”


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