Claims pour in as task force urges patience

AIRLINE COMPENSATION:PASSENGERS LEFT out of pocket after being stranded by the ash cloud that closed much of Europe's airspace this week have been urged to be patient as airlines struggle to deal with a huge increase in the number of reimbursement claims.

Flight schedules have all but returned to normal, and although ash from Eyjafjallajökull forced the closure of Reykjavik airport yesterday, weather forecasters have predicted that it will steer well clear of Ireland over the coming days.

The Government’s emergency-response task force called for clear advice on what expenses should be reimbursed to passengers affected by cancellations. “Enforcement bodies should publish guidelines on what they consider should be included in reasonable costs where people have been stranded across Europe,” a spokesman said.

“It is acknowledged that it will take some time to process all claims for refunds. Passengers are asked to be patient, and aviation companies to be responsive, in processing claims,” he added.

The recruitment ban across the Civil Service is likely to be relaxed to allow the Commission for Aviation Regulation to recruit temporary staff to expedite the handling of reimbursement claims.

A spokesman for the commission said yesterday it is unlikely that any regulatory authority across the EU will give precise guidelines on what level of reimbursement is acceptable, but he urged people to adopt a commonsense approach when making claims. “We will look at the merits of each case, and patterns are likely to emerge from that,” he said.

It is hard to say how long affected passengers will have to wait to be reimbursed, as this week’s chaos is unprecedented, and airlines have an enormous number of claims to process. “The general message is that we are asking passengers to be patient.”

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, yesterday saw a “dramatic fall-off” in calls to the crisis centre it set up in the wake of the closure of most European airspace, nine days ago. Numbers contacting the department fell from 1,100 on Monday to little more than 100 yesterday, as tens of thousands of stranded passengers finally returned home.

The focus now switches to airline compensation, with the International Air Transport Association urging governments to help airlines cope with the losses the closures have caused, which are estimated to be about €1.3 billion. Aer Lingus has said the chaos will cost it between €15 million and €20 million; Ryanair has put its costs at more than €42 million.

Fares could climb in the short term, as airlines have already been flying their aircraft nearly full after dramatically cutting capacity in recent months as a result of the downturn, and now have relatively few seats on offer.