Air passenger rights are not being respected at Madeira airport, where strong winds have forced the cancellation of flights since the weekend, the DECO association warned today.
Speaking to Lusa, Paulo Fonseca, coordinator of the Legal and Economic Department of DECO (Portuguese association for consumer protection), stressed that the competent authorities at Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, in Funchal, are not providing adequate information to passengers affected by the adverse weather conditions that were felt on the island and which resulted in multiple flight cancellations and delays.
So far, DECO has not received formal complaints, but there have been “several” telephone contacts with requests for clarification, either with the regional structure of the association in Madeira, or through online tools.
Noting that the suspension of air passenger rights does not come into force in exceptional circumstances, such as adverse weather conditions, Paulo Fonseca stressed that “the consumer has the right to information, to be informed, effectively, [about] whether there is a delay, whether there is a cancellation and this information has to be delivered promptly.”
At the same time, “the consumer who has a situation of cancellation or delay, regardless […] whether the rerouting occurs immediately or not, is entitled to assistance.”
This assistance – he specified – includes “meals and drinks, free of charge, for the proportional waiting time until the re-routing occurs.”
Food assistance is due “whether it is a situation under the responsibility of the air carrier or not,” that is, in a situation of “winds and storms, of cataclysms, the consumer always maintains this right.”
Likewise, the passenger “retains the right to accommodation, in case he has to stay overnight at the airport.”
It is at this point that “the big problems begin” at Madeira airport, where, frequently, the cancelled flights can only be accommodated at a later date,” highlighted Paulo Fonseca.
According to DECO, passengers “do not obtain any information from the air carrier,” which is responsible for ensuring accommodation, which is “free of charge for the period necessary until the next available flight.”
In the absence of this information, DECO advises consumers to look for accommodation and keep all invoices (including transportation to and from the airport, as well as meals), in order to request a refund later.
Paulo Fonseca stressed that this situation is not “extraordinary” at Madeira airport and that DECO has already alerted the Regional Government to similar circumstances in the past.
“Consumers often end up staying overnight at the airport itself, they don’t have any information, the counters are closed, […] are conditioned to electronic forms, and often […] the pages are overloaded”, said the official.
At the same time, he added, “consumers are unable to make the complaint” and “there are no support mechanisms” to support them, mechanisms that “have to be available and have to be activated immediately.”
DECO points out that it has regularly alerted the Government and the Assembly of the Republic, as well as the Madeiran regional authorities, “to the need to create contingency plans” at airports in order to “ensure that consumers, whenever there are situations that cause massive flight cancellations or considerable delays […], are not harmed and may immediately be entitled to assistance.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
