Consumer Protection Minister Lemke: Flights may only be paid for after arrival

According to the minister, if airlines failed to meet their obligations on a large scale and did not live up to the trust of customers, one would have to think about abolishing the prepayment principle.

WBecause of the ongoing flight chaos, Federal Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) has threatened the airlines with abandoning the prepayment principle when buying tickets. The airlines are obliged to reimburse within seven days and in certain cases also to additional compensation, Lemke said, according to a preliminary report in the newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

“If we see that the airlines are really not fulfilling their obligations on a large scale, we will remedy the situation. We would then have to think about whether it really makes sense for flights to be paid for in advance.” According to Lemke, the prepayment principle is a leap of faith on the part of customers. “You pay for a service that you will only use in days, weeks or months. If the airlines no longer live up to the trust, you have to change this principle.”

Lufthansa cuts and cuts

Deutsche Lufthansa AG has announced new waves of flight cancellations in recent weeks. Reason is lack of staff. This made the sometimes chaotic conditions in Europe at the beginning of the summer holiday season even worse.

Europe’s largest airline will cancel around a fifth of departures on some days in Frankfurt and Munich next week, a company spokesman said. The aim is to offer a stable flight plan. The exact number of flights has not yet been determined, according to the airline.