At the beginning of the corona pandemic, when air traffic almost collapsed, many airlines speculated that they would be able to withhold customer funds and instead hand out vouchers. The EU Commission made it clear that this is inadmissible, which, however, was disregarded by some providers.

Austrian Airlines General Director Alexis von Hoensbroech was particularly cheeky in public with the legal right to reimbursement within a week. In a live interview on Österreichischer Rundfunk, he advertised that tickets should be booked and if there was no flight, “then there's a voucher”.

Just like many other airlines, the Lufthansa Group delayed repayment of customer funds for canceled flights under strange excuses. In some cases, passengers were simply sent vouchers without being asked, and with many providers the call centers were either unavailable or cheekily asserted that they could only have one voucher.

With the illegal behavior on the customer's backs, the industry did not exactly create trust and should not be at all surprised that travelers now prefer to book at short notice, because for many the memories of chasing after the money are still in their bones. It wasn't just about 9,99 euro cheap tickets, but sometimes also about flight tickets in First Class for several thousand euros.

The EU Commission does not want such behavior to be repeated and in general the issue of vouchers in the event of reimbursement should no longer be permitted in the future. A total of 13 airlines have committed to the improvements. These include Ryanair, Eurowings and Lufthansa. The aim is to make financial claims easier and quicker to land on the passenger's bank account.

Particularly important for holders of “compulsory vouchers”: The airlines have committed themselves to the EU Commission that unused vouchers must be paid out. It is up to the national authorities to take possible sanctions if this is refused.