BUSINESS NEWS discuss how the pandemic has severely tested package travel regulations. Ian Taylor reports


Official advice is ‘strong indication’ of refund right


Foreign Office advice against travel is “a strong indication” that a consumer is entitled to a full refund for a cancelled package holiday despite neither the UK Package Travel Regulations (PTRs) nor the EU Package Travel Directive (PTD) referring to travel warnings. That is according to Travlaw


senior associate Nick Parkinson who told an International Travel Law Network conference: “No Foreign Office advice automatically triggers a refund, but it is evidence. It’s a benchmark. There is also European Commission guidance that it is a strong indication.” German travel lawyer Klaus


Siebert noted: “This was an easy question in the past. A travel warning was a trigger for cancellation and full refunds. Then with the Arab Spring [in 2011] and other situations it became more difficult. The view of the [German] courts became that a travel warning indicates the right to cancel but is not the only indication.” Michael Wukoschitz of Vienna-


based law firm KWC said: “In Austria, the courts say the advice is an indicator of ‘extraordinary


Vaccination entry rules raise issue of refund rights


Package organisers should mostly not have to pay refunds to unvaccinated travellers who cancel holidays due to the stricter Covid restrictions on those not jabbed. Travlaw senior associate Krystene Bousfield said: “We’ve had customers


travelweekly.co.uk Costa del Sol, Spain


circumstances’ but not of itself extraordinary circumstances. But in almost every case, it would be unreasonable not to refund if such advice exists.” The PTRs and PTD entitle


consumers to a refund for cancellations due to “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances”. Travlaw senior associate Krystene


Bousfield suggested that to win a case “in front of a judge” for not refunding a customer in such circumstances: “You would have to prove you know better than the Foreign Office.” Wukoschitz noted: “I argued


the other way, that an organiser has a right to cancel and it would


Krystene Bousfield


be unreasonable to operate when the advice is against travel, when a passenger wanted compensation for loss of holiday enjoyment [due to a cancellation].” He added: “They lost but appealed.” A revision of the EU Package


Travel Directive due before the end of the year is expected to clarify the legal approach to travel warnings. The issue caused a rift in Abta


at the height of the pandemic in 2020 when several online travel agents, including On the Beach, quit the association over its policy that Foreign Office advice against all but essential travel requires members to cancel bookings and offer full refunds.


say ‘We don’t want to be jabbed’ and want a refund. [But] we’re not seeing any cases in court yet.” Ljubljana-based lawyer


Alexander Poels of Karanovic &


Partners said: “It has become slightly less complex than last year when a lot of people were not able to get vaccinated. Vaccination became a worldwide requirement. [But] in most countries there are alternatives to vaccination that allow you to travel. The organiser should make the traveller aware of the requirements in destination.” Klaus Siebert, partner at Engels-


Siebert in Dusseldorf, said: “There is a timescale between booking and the departure date when you have


PTRs ‘bit brief’ on organisers’ rights of redress


The Package Travel Regulations (PTRs) include a right for package organisers to seek refunds from airlines and other suppliers when forced to refund customers for cancelled holidays. Article 29 of the PTRs


states an organiser “may seek redress from any third parties which contributed to the event triggering compensation” for cancellation. But Travlaw senior counsel Stephen Mason noted that during the pandemic: “Package organisers had to refund consumers but were not able to get refunds back from airlines.” Travlaw senior associate


Nick Parkinson noted Article 29 “seems a bit brief” whereas “the wording of the [EU] directive seems clear”: “Member states should ensure the organiser . . . has the right to seek redress from any third parties which contributed to the event.” Parkinson said: “We’re left with a lack of a framework. Does it work as a breach of contract? If an airline refuses to enter B2B agreements, there is no contract framework. And what does ‘contribute’ mean?”


an obligation to tell the customer of changes to entry requirements. It comes down to, is there time for the customer to be vaccinated?” He noted: “There are hundreds


of cases in Germany. [But] if vaccination rules change – for example, if a booster is necessary – the customer can’t say ‘Now I’m able to terminate’. Then, it’s what is the time to departure? If you don’t have time after the obligation of the organiser to inform, the customer has a right to cancel with a refund.”


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PICTURE: Shutterstock/Valery Bareta


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