Passengers should always understand everything. Corona is still used today by many carriers as an excuse for delays and cancellations. In the meantime, “lack of staff at the airport” has also blossomed. The Tui travel group does not want to show any “understanding” and wants to claim damages from the airports.
In the calendar months of May and June 2022 alone, the German tour operator had additional costs of 75 million euros due to flight irregularities. This even denied the group a possible quarterly profit. The costs for severely delayed or canceled flights remain with the airline and Tui is now fed up with that and wants to see compensation from the airports.
CFO Sebastian Ebel announced that the airport operators were approached and asked for appropriate compensation. In May and June 2022, airports in the United Kingdom were primarily affected, but since the start of the summer holidays in numerous German federal states, Tuifly has also experienced significant delays at the airports there. In some cases, the situation was so precarious that many passengers were unable to board their flight due to the extremely long queues in front of the security checkpoint.
At the moment, courts mostly rule that if the passenger adheres to the times recommended by the airline for arriving at the airport, dropping off suitcases and going through the security check, the airline is liable if you still miss the flight. Consumer advocates recommend that you document everything and, if necessary, take selfie photos. Exchanging contact details with other people affected can be useful, since you then have witnesses in the event of a dispute.
Irrespective of this: The situation is problematic for Tui and other airlines, because the airlines have to pay for the additional costs. Depending on how important the customer relationship is to the provider, the more intensively he takes care of compliance with the minimum standards according to EU Regulation 261/2004 or doesn't care and leaves those affected to themselves. The number of stars or the word "premium carrier In the event of an irregularity, there is no guarantee that you will receive top service in the event of a problem. In the last few months, the exact opposite has once again become apparent.
Tui no longer wants to bear the additional costs itself and also believes that the chaos at the airports has had a negative impact on the number of new bookings. CFO Ebel now wants to “put forward significant claims for damages” against airports and other service providers.