At a glance
What rights do travellers have when faced with the bankruptcy of an airline? Can they get a refund for their plane ticket?
Air Berlin, Niki, Monarch, Wow… Thomas Cook...
Every year, unlucky air travellers are unfortunately faced with the sudden bankruptcy of their airline or tour operator. They see their holiday dreams collapse before they've even set off. Others are caught out and left stranded at their holiday destination, with no alternative way to get home.
What are their rights? Do they have any chance of getting their ticket refunded?
Here are two scenarios:
1. You booked a plane ticket or a trip directly
If you booked your plane ticket directly, without going through a travel agency or a tour operator (so without booking accommodation, other transport, tourist excursions, etc.), getting a refund for your plane ticket or booking will be fairly complicated.
The first thing to do is to check with the commercial partners of the bankrupt company (many airlines belong to groups that include several airlines), to see whether passengers affected by the cancellation can transfer their booking to another airline. This option isn't automatic, however, and sometimes comes with fees.
If you paid for your plane ticket by credit card, also check with the card issuer to see whether it covers flight cancellation due to bankruptcy.
If no alternative is available to you, and in order to obtain a refund or compensation, you have the right to register as a creditor with the receiver appointed by the court. This process isn't always straightforward, as it requires you to know the receiver's contact details, the deadline for filing your claim, and the legal procedure to follow. Everything becomes more complicated when the bankruptcy is declared in a foreign country whose language and legal procedures you don't know.
The receiver will draw up an inventory of the various creditors and the order in which they'll be repaid. Affected passengers are usually treated as ordinary creditors, with no special privileges or priority, and therefore risk ending up at the bottom of the list.
The Travel Guarantee Fund only steps in when a travel agency or an affiliated tour operator goes bankrupt. Check its website to find out about the procedures for requesting assistance.
2. You booked through an agency or tour operator
If your plane ticket is part of a package holiday, the tour operator or travel agency will have to offer you an alternative (another date, another airline, another destination, or a refund). Get in touch with them directly.
If it's the tour operator that's declared bankrupt, they will logically try to find a solution for customers who have already booked. If they're a member of the Travel Guarantee Fund, this fund will, in principle, guarantee the cost of on-site arrangements and travellers' return journeys, as well as any refund for cancelled trips. Check with the tour operator or the Guarantee Fund.
We also recommend keeping an eye on the news.
Travel cancellation insurance
Redion's NoGo travel cancellation insurance does not cover the bankruptcy of a transport company or a tour operator, and therefore doesn't cover an airline either.
We therefore recommend following the procedures mentioned above.
One last piece of advice: No airline or tour operator is immune to bankruptcy. That said, signs of financial weakness are sometimes reported (in the press) before bankruptcy is declared. It can therefore be worth doing a bit of research online before buying a ticket directly from a lesser-known airline, or one that has already run into financial trouble…
Useful link:
**Also read:*
**-Delayed flight: what compensation is available?
-[Your rights in the event of flight overbooking](/en/blog/flight-overbooking-rights-and-compensation)-[A dispute while on holiday](/en/blog/a-dispute-while-on-holiday).\
