Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ / Patrice Allen
Air New Zealand is warning 44,000 passengers will be affected by cancellations over the coming months – so what are your rights if you’re one of them?
Air New Zealand chief executive Nikhil Ravishankar told Morning Report between now and the end of April, early May the airline will cancel around 1100 flights.
The airline is facing massive cost pressures, with the conflict in the Middle East increasing the price of jet fuel.
On the No Stupid Questions podcast this week, we talked to Consumer NZ spokesperson Jessica Walker about travellers’ rights if their travel is cancelled.
She said the first thing people potentially affected should do was to check whether their airline or travel agent.
“The most important thing you can do if you’re due to travel is just keep looking at the airline’s website.
“Make sure that you’re registered, maybe on their app or that they’ve got up-to-date contact details for you… it might be that you look like you’re all set to fly …and then you find out with a few hours’ notice that actually that’s not going to be the case.
“So, knowing what’s happening is really important.”
From there, people could work out their rights, she said.
RNZ/ Samuel Rillstone
Generally, if flights are cancelled because of conflict – for example where war closes an airspace – then airlines are not required to offer passengers a refund.
But Walker said when a flight was cancelled because of the surge in fuel prices, it could be argued that was not a direct result of war.
She said Consumer’s legal team said that fuel price volatility was likely to be viewed as a business cost that could have been hedged and not an unavoidable operational disruption.
“It’s great to see that people are being rebooked, but there are going to be people for whom rebooking doesn’t work. Our stance is they should be able to get their money back and any additional costs should be reimbursed as well.”
That could be to the limits in the Civil Aviation Act, which allow people to claim the lesser of up to 10 times the cost of the ticket for the actual cost of the delay.
But in cases where flights were cancelled directly because of the conflict, that would not apply.
Jessica Walker. Supplied / Consumer NZ
Travel insurance might not help. Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Karen Stevens said policies would generally not cover in situations where travel was disrupted due to war. It would also not help when people had changed their minds.
“When it comes to travel insurance, claims arising from war hostilities or military actions, so exactly what’s happening here, often the policy is going to have exclusions in place so that you don’t have coverage for anything,” Walker said.
“We have been told that there are cases where there is some cover available, but that would be for claims that are not related to the conflict itself. So for example, say you’ve got travel insurance and you’re to get sick while you’re away, or your bag gets stolen while you’re at the railway station for example, then providing those losses are not related to the conflict, then some policies will still cover you for that.”
Walker also warned people to take care with accepting credits for travel they could not use. Airlines have already announced fare increases.
“It is highly unlikely that flight prices are going to go down. So if you’re getting credited for a flight that you decide not to take or could you get to that destination for the same price? It’s looking unlikely, especially with what’s happening with fuel prices… there are already reports of tickets absolutely skyrocketing.
“So I’d say that’s something for people to just keep in mind that with those credits, it’s not going to be a great situation for a lot of people looking to get to the same destination in the future.”
‘Pragmatic response’
David Coombes, CEO of House of Travel, said Air NZ’s decision was “a pragmatic response to the reality of the conflict in the Middle East and the restricted flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz”.
“We’ve seen the price of jet fuel double because a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas is currently restricted at the source. When an airline’s main operational cost increases that quickly, it forces an adjustment to keep the network functioning.
“However, this is a pressure airlines the world over have navigated during difficult historical events in the past, and I would say the industry is very resilient and can often stabilise quickly.
“Our immediate priority is on our customers and the 44,000 New Zealanders whose travel plans will be impacted. It’s in times of global disruption like this that the value of working with a travel professional really comes into its own.
“I ask for your patience as our travel consultants work alongside our partners to support Kiwi travellers across the country to get everyone where they need to be.”
Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds, a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make, spend and invest money.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
