Airlines have agreed to formalise a long-standing custom to help passengers left stranded by a carrier’s collapse.
Members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have agreed to offer discount ‘rescue’ fares to travellers in Europe who have to be repatriated when their airline goes bust.
In general, airlines already offer cheaper fares for stranded passengers, but have decided to make it formal as part of a campaign to stop the EU creating a statutory fund to pay for the flights of passengers, which all airlines would be forced to contribute towards.
IATA chief executive Tony Tyler said: "I am delighted to say that passengers left stranded in the rare and unfortunate event of an airline bankruptcy will be offered ‘rescue fares’ from airlines to ensure they can get home."
"A compulsory levy on airlines to deal with repatriation would not serve anybody’s interest.
We commend the European Commission for resisting this and for encouraging airlines to adopt this coordinated and customer-focused approach."
IATA said that passengers would be offered fares as a ‘nominal’ amount to get home, subject to available capacity.
The fares will be available to passengers travelling to, from and within Europe who do not have insurance covering them against airline failure.
Tickets can be purchased for up to two weeks after the affected carrier has stopped flying.
