Complaints over shoddy airlines at all-time high

Passenger complaints against poor treatment by airlines are at an all-time high, according to the Cyprus consumers association.

Speaking to the CyBC on Tuesday, Virginia Christou, head of the consumer association’s legal team, said that despite complaints doubling due to large airport strikes in 2023 the rising trend in complaints continued in 2024 without being attributable to major disruptive events.

In its analysis of complaints received during the first six months of the current year, the association determined customers were disgruntled over airlines delaying and cancelling flights and failing to adhere to boarding times. Baggage handling was another area of discontent.

Travelers should immediately report any violation of customer rights so that the incident can be promptly documented and addressed, Christou advised.

“Low budget airlines in particular are known to delay compensation for poor service or even their responses to complaints,” Christou said. She added that these practices had been reported to the European consumer protection association.

There are still cases pending from cancellations of flights during the Covid pandemic, Christou said.

Four companies, in particular, seem to be “repeat offenders” in various unscrupulous practices, including failing to provide a functioning check-in app and subsequently charging passengers up to €50 to check them in at the airport desk. She did not name the errant airlines.

“This practice is illegal,” Christou said and should be promptly reported to the consumer association.

Damages or loss to luggage are also legally covered under EU passenger rights law and airlines are supposed to recover lost luggage within 21 days. Passengers have the legal right to claim compensation for lost luggage and should keep their receipts for any essential items they were required to buy while the luggage was missing.

However, in these cases too, airlines may drag their heels over the re-compensation process creating problems.

Organised tours with last-minute changes to the itinerary, accommodation arrangements or added services are also common, Christou said, and illegal.

The legal expert advised potential travellers to insist for all agreements with tour operators and airlines, as well as any complaint procedures, to be conducted in writing.

Travel forums can also be useful for monitoring and selecting travel services with a better record and for avoiding any of several widespread online scams, Christou said.

She added that due to a runaway rise in abuse of consumer rights in general, a database where companies can be called out and named, was being promoted in the EU, which the association is pushing to be brought into effect in Cyprus.