Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-10-07-Speech-3-259"
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"en.20091007.23.3-259"2
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"Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the collapse of the airline company SkyEurope has focused attention on the general problem of poor consumer protection for airline company passengers. This is no virtual problem – I have had the opportunity to meet a number of customers affected by the collapse of this airline company in person. They were, by coincidence, guests from the French twin town of Chateau d´Ain, who had come for a meeting in Kroměříž in the east of the Czech Republic, which is the town I represent. Their return journey was a very frustrating experience, involving an enforced one-day stopover at Prague airport.
I mention this experience in order to emphasise that SkyEurope was not a normal low-cost airline. It offered its passengers similar services to those of a traditional airline and flew to major airports. Its services were used by a wide range of customers. For customers whose primary concern was not the date of the trip but rather the cost of the ticket, SkyEurope was the preferred choice in the Czech Republic. The SkyEurope company was also one the most important clients for Prague-Ruzyně, the Czech Republic’s largest airport. The collapse of SkyEurope, however, affected not only people at airports, but also 280 000 other clients who had bought tickets. According to the information available, air tickets were being sold right up to the moment when bankruptcy was declared.
People who did not purchase tickets with a credit card have practically no chance of recovering their money. Airline companies have no legal obligation to insure against a collapse and so some of them do not take out such insurance. Passengers must therefore make their claims in bankruptcy proceedings. The chances of getting money back in this way are negligible. It is therefore time to do something about this. I would like to thank the Committee on Transport for taking ownership of this issue and the Commission for promising to deal with it. I am confident that a solution will be put forward that will boost customer confidence in the air transport sector, which has been so dramatically affected by the global economic crisis."@en1
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