Quite a few flights were canceled due to the Corona crisis, but many customers are still waiting for their flight costs to be reimbursed. According to a media report, Lufthansa is said to have not yet processed more than a million applications, despite legal obligations. The company faces a fine.
The federal government has sharply criticized Lufthansa for the hesitant reimbursement of flights that were canceled due to the corona crisis. "It is incomprehensible that Lufthansa, despite the massive state aid, has not yet met its legal obligations and does not repay its customers their money immediately," said State Secretary for Economic Affairs Ulrich Nussbaum now to "Spiegel". Lufthansa stated that it was in "best contact" with the government on the subject of reimbursement.
It is a "question of trust," said Nussbaum. This topic was already discussed during the negotiations on the aid package and it was "very important" to the federal government. The State Secretary had negotiated with Lufthansa for the Ministry of Economic Affairs about the around nine billion in government aid to deal with the Corona crisis.
Lufthansa admitted the problems according to "Spiegel". The magazine quoted from a current statement for the Federal Aviation Office, according to which the airline had only processed 3.24 million of 4.48 million reimbursement applications. Around 1.24 million applications are still open. At the subsidiary Eurowings, only around half of the 378,000 applications for reimbursement have been processed.
Proceedings against Lufthansa have already been initiated
"Despite enormous efforts," Lufthansa was unable to meet its own claims and legal requirements, the magazine quoted from the letter. One of the reasons is the limited ability to work of a call center service provider in India because of the lockdown there.
According to "Spiegel", the Federal Aviation Office has already initiated administrative offense proceedings against Lufthansa. After the company provided the authority with initial information about the lack of reimbursements, the authorities consider a fine of between half a million and one million euros appropriate, reports the magazine.
Lufthansa had announced for the end of July that it would switch on the automated reimbursement systems again. Previously, the applications had been processed individually, which was time-consuming. Board member Harry Hohmeister had said that the airline had been "overwhelmed" by the Corona crisis and its consequences.
A spokeswoman for Lufthansa told AFP that in 2020 more than two billion euros in reimbursement had been paid out for the entire Lufthansa group. Flights from March and April have already been largely processed. Less than a billion euros in reimbursements are still outstanding.
According to European passenger law, refunds for canceled flights must be made within seven days of notification of the cancellation. This applies not only to European airlines, but to every booking of a flight with a departure point in an EU country. Customers do not have to accept the vouchers that are often issued by airlines after the Corona-related cancellations. If you reject the voucher, you retain your right to reimbursement.
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