(Finance) – Fiavet-Confcommercio wrote to ENACNational Civil Aviation Authority, and ad ARTTransport Regulatory Authority, reporting that some carriers they do not recognize the right to refund pecuniary for flights departing from Italian airports to Israel. The Federation refers in particular to EL AL Airlines.
As is known, the Foreign Ministry currently advises against Israel where a war is underway “Following the massive launch of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel and the armed assault by Hamas terrorists in various locations in the south of the country, the Israeli authorities declared a state of war on 7 October 2023. A specific alert affects all locations within a radius of 80km from the Gaza Strip. The security situation in Israel and the Palestinian Territories remains extremely fluid and report cancellations on air routes to and from Italy; compatriots are therefore invited to postpone their trip in the event of travel that is not strictly necessary…”.
The letter reads: “The travel agencies associated with Fiavet who organized travel packages in Israel, sold to customers before the start of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, find themselves having to give the travelers who purchased the said packages a refund of the price paid following the termination of the same due to impossibility pursuant to art. 1463 cc and as provided for by art. 41, paragraphs 4 et seq. of the Tourism Code (Legislative Decree 79/2011) and on the other hand not to receive from the carriers the flights included in such packages a refund of the transport price already paid”.
Fiavet-Confcommercio points out that in this way the Tourism Code is being violatedwhich provides, in these cases, for the termination of the contract for the tourist package, and with it, the consequent termination of the contracts connected to the suppliers of the services included in the package.
“This situation – states the president of Fiavet-Confcommercio, Giuseppe Ciminnisi – if it were to remain unresolved, it could jeopardize the financial sustainability of package refunds to consumers and induce travel agencies, to defend themselves, to behave like the carrier, i.e. to freeze refunds, or issue vouchers”.
Fiavet-Confcommercio reiterates, as it had already done previously in similar situations that arose during the pandemic crisis, that a timely intervention by ENAC and ART to comply with the rules on reimbursements by carriers.