The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has launched an audit to assess whether the European Commission has been safeguarding effectively the rights of citizens who travelled by plane or booked flights during the coronavirus crisis. The auditors will examine whether the current rules on air passenger rights are fit for purpose and resilient enough to deal with such a crisis. They will check whether the Commission monitored that air passengers’ rights were respected during the pandemic and took action accordingly. In addition, they will assess whether Member States took passenger rights into account when granting emergency state aid to the travel and transport industry.
“In times of COVID-19, the EU and Member States have had to strike a balance between preserving air passenger rights and supporting the ailing airlines,” says Annemie Turtelboom, the ECA Member leading the audit. “Our audit will check that the rights of millions of air travellers in the EU were not collateral damage in the fight to save struggling airlines.”