Thomas Cook Flight Faces Impound Risk

Posted on December, 20 2016 by Blueway Limited

Flight delays

In recent flight delay news, a Thomas Cook flight has come under the risk of being impounded by Bailiffs. The warning comes as a result of Thomas Cook not paying a long pending compensation, estimated to be around 600 Euros, to a passenger, who was forced to experience a 22 hour flight delay.

The passenger, a woman of German nationality, is believed to have taken the matter to court and fought over it for four years. The case itself was fought in Austrian courts, where, it was ruled that the woman would be entitled to a payout from the airline carrier.

The court official warned that the aircraft would be impounded if the carrier did not pay the passenger on time. On the 2nd of April, a bailiff was granted the power to seize the plane from the Salzburg Airport.It is believed that the bailiff arrived at the airfield one day before to find out how he would be able to impound the airplane. It was then that Thomas Cook called in its sister airline, Condor, and asked them to make the payout.

A long standing problem

The German passenger, who was supposed to be flying from Vienna to the Caribbean in 2012, was delayed for several hours. As expected, she filed for her compensation immediately. However, theairlines delayed paying her for a significant period of time, which, is clearly against the set EU regulations regarding compensations.

As a result, the woman was forced to take the issue to court. It is believed that she had some professional assistance in hiring a lawyer to represent her at court and to execute all the necessary paperwork.

Experts from the airline industry stated that this was an unusual case considering the fact that it took so long to resolve. Under normal circumstances, such cases usually do not take more than four weeks after the initial requisition for compensation is made.

Some experts suggest that this particular case may have been delayed due to the claim being misplaced among the carrier’s paperwork.

Condor speaks up

A spokesperson from Condor named Johannes Winter stated that their UK airline office did not receive a European Payment order. As a result, a title was granted to the bailiff. When Condor had learned of the title to impound the UK aircraft, the carrier immediately ensured that the money was transferred as soon as possible.

The spokesperson stated that they had confidence in the airline operation not being disturbed. He also went onto apologize to the passenger regarding the delay and inconvenience caused.

EU regulations concerning flight delays are applicable for any departure or arrival occurring in any airport that is located in a country that belongs to the European Union. The regulation also applies to arrivals in EU airports on EU carriers from Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway.

Passengers are entitled to refunds if there is a three hour delay or more.

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