BUSINESS NEWS


Confusion remains over entitlement to refunds


Ian Taylor


Consumer entitlement to full refunds for package holidays where Foreign Office advice against travel leads to cancellation but flights still operate remains confused. The Competition and Markets


Authority (CMA) insists consumers are entitled to full refunds in these circumstances under the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs) and says it has undertakings from Loveholidays and lastminute.com that commit the companies to pay full refunds. But the online travel agencies (OTAs) and some industry lawyers disagree. Travel Weekly understands the


CMA believes the companies under- took to refund customers in full for cancelled package bookings regardless of whether the flights went ahead. A source noted: “Where a package


holiday is cancelled, customers should receive refunds in full, including costs of flights that went ahead. Where a company has committed to refunding customers for package holidays this should be a full refund.” The CMA last week threatened


Emirates imposes surcharge of up to $25 for GDS sales


Agents booking Emirates flights via GDSs will face a £10-£18 distribution surcharge from July 1. Those wishing to avoid the


charge must switch to New Distribution Capability (NDC)


travelweekly.co.uk


content accessed through the airline’s Emirates Gateway platform, launched last October. The airline is the first Gulf carrier


lastminute with legal action if it did not comply with a December undertaking to refund customers. The regulator said it was studying lastminute’s response this week. The OTAs and some senior


industry sources do not believe the undertakings explicitly include refunds for the flight element of packages cancelled due to Foreign Office advice where the flight went ahead. In practice, the OTAs appear to be withholding payment unless an airline refunds the money for a flight (Travel Weekly, February 18). Abta policy is clear that where


package holidays are cancelled due to Foreign Office advice, customers must be offered full refunds regardless of whether flights operate. Loveholidays and the UK’s largest OTA On the Beach quit Abta in September because of the policy. A Loveholidays spokesperson


said: “The agreement [with the CMA] does not include refunding customers in full in all circumstances.” CMA guidance last August noted:


“If a package holiday is cancelled in light of Foreign Office advice against travel, consumers should be entitled to a full refund.”


BA owner secures £2.4bn funding for loan and pensions


British Airways parent IAG confirmed completion of two finance deals on Monday, securing BA an extra £2.45 billion in liquidity. The bulk of the funds, £2 billion,


is in the form of a five-year, government-backed bank loan guaranteed by UK Export Finance. IAG said BA expects to draw the facility before the end of this month. Trustees of BA staff pension


scheme NAPS have also agreed to allow the airline to defer £450 million in pension deficit contributions due in the 12 months to September 2021. Separately, Air France-KLM


confirmed it is close to securing further state aid after talks with the French and Dutch governments and with the EC on bailout conditions. Group chief financial officer


Frederic Gagey said the timing “is a question of days and weeks” and insisted: “We are confident.” A deal could see the French state


almost double its 14.3% stake in Air France-KLM in return for injecting up to €5 billion. The carrier has already secured €7 billion in aid from France and €3.4 billion from the Netherlands. The group posted a loss of €7.1 billion for 2020 last week.


to impose GDS charges following similar moves by Lufthansa in 2015, British Airways in 2017 and Air France-KLM in 2018. Fares accessed by GDSs will


carry a distribution surcharge of between $14 and $25 per ticket “depending on the sector length”. The carrier said it is “working


closely with interested trade partners” to bring them into Emirates Gateway, which provides “exclusive content not


available in indirect channels”. Chief commercial officer


Adnan Kazim said: “Our goal is to empower our trade partners to deliver better customer experiences. Emirates Gateway was launched to address the limitations of current legacy systems and provide a wide range of additional content and options for agents.” He insisted: “We are heartened


by the feedback we’ve received from our trade and GDS partners.”


25 FEBRUARY 2021 35


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