Airlines face shower of complaints, requests for compensation multiply

Spring and summer chaos for airlines has resulted in thousands of passengers turning to companies for compensation.

Several travel consumer associations report an explosion of complaints against air carriers in L'Echo and De Tijd newspapers on Wednesday.

"In June, we saw a tripling of the number of complaints compared to May. In July, there is even talk of a fourfold increase," said Claudia Brosche of Flightrights, although the legal expert didn’t provide precise figures.

Another association, Yource, was more expansive on the subject. The company has handled more than 70,000 complaints, including 7,800 in Belgium. "This is three times more than in 2019, before the pandemic. In addition, we’ve had to refuse to process tens of thousands of additional requests per month," explained Dutch chief executive Tom van Bokhoven.

"Everyone points the finger, but it’s often the airline that’s responsible", he added. “First, the claimants try to reach an agreement with the airlines. If that fails, they go to court. Yource has 4,500 airline court summons from all over Europe."

Photo: © Brussels Airport