When the corona pandemic broke out in 2020, a couple was on a beach holiday in Hurghada, Egypt, when the Austrian Foreign Ministry informed them that they should start their return journey immediately. When the tour operator did not respond to numerous attempts by the travelers to contact them, they made the early return journey on their own. The Eisenstadt district court has now confirmed the claim for compensation of around 1.800 euros against the tour operator BigXtra Touristik GmbH. The judgment is final.

A couple had booked a two-week package tour in Egypt for early March 2020 at a total price of around 1.500 euros. However, as a result of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the situation on the ground became so critical that the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked travelers to start their return journey immediately, as the airport in Egypt would be closed in the next few days. It was unclear to consumers whether the return flight originally planned for a later date would take place. All attempts to contact the tour operator failed. Therefore, the couple felt compelled to start the return journey on their own. Flights to Austria were already fully booked at this point. They only had one flight to Zurich. However, since all train connections between Austria and Switzerland had been discontinued in the meantime, they took a train to the Austrian border and then crossed it on foot. They then took a taxi to Bregenz, where they spent the night in a police station – the only heated waiting area – before taking the earliest possible train to Vienna the next morning. The return journey costs totaled around 1.300 euros.

“This return journey odyssey makes it clear that consumers started their journey home at the very last minute. Waiting longer for support from the tour operator would most likely have made the return journey completely impossible," explains VKI lawyer Verena Grubner, explaining the behavior of the travellers. "Nevertheless, BigXtra Touristik refused to reimburse the return journey costs on the grounds that it would have been reasonable for the travelers to stay at the holiday destination and wait for the originally planned return flight to take place."

On behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs, the VKI supported the consumers in asserting their claims against BigXtra Touristik - with success: The Eisenstadt District Court upheld the lawsuit in full and awarded the consumers both the costs for the self-organized return journey and a travel price reduction of around 500 euros .

"Even if travel defects are due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances - such as the outbreak of a pandemic - travelers are entitled to demand a travel price reduction for existing contractual violations and to withdraw from the package travel contract. In such a case, the tour operator must arrange for the traveler to be transported back immediately and without additional costs. Since the consumers had to remedy the situation themselves, the tour operator must reimburse them for the entire costs incurred,” Verena Grubner comments on the verdict.