Passengers abandoned in favour of football team flight

The FACUA-Consumers in Action association has denounced Air Nostrum before the Galician Institute of Consumer Affairs and Competition and the Ministries of Consumer Affairs and Transport for leaving almost a hundred passengers on the ground in Vigo to give their plane to players and members of the technical team of the Sevilla Fútbol Club, which had just played a match in the Galician city.

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The association argues that the contractual breach incurred by the airline represents a violation of consumer protection regulations, which is why it should be subject to sanction by the consumer authorities. FACUA has presented its complaints to the Galician consumer protection authority because the events took place in that community. But since there have been victims with addresses in different autonomous communities, it has also presented the case to the General Directorate of Consumer Affairs of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, so that it can assess whether it exercises its sanctioning powers.

On the other hand, FACUA has addressed the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, belonging to the Ministry of Transport, considering that Air Nostrum had violated the Air Navigation Law, which states in its article 45 as a serious violation the failure to comply with its obligation to enforce the rights of passengers in the event of denied boarding, as well as provide them with sufficient information.

Those affected were at the Peinador airport waiting to catch a plane to Madrid when the airline informed them that their flight – which had already accumulated a certain delay – was being cancelled. The reason is that the plane that the Sevilla FC players and coaching staff were going to use to return to the Andalusian capital had suffered a breakdown, so Air Nostrum made the decision to give them the plane planned for passenger service.

Thus, around 80 passengers, who were already in the boarding area, saw how the airline left them unable to board the plane to allow the members of the Sevillian club to board. According to the media, the only option the company gave was to return to the airport the next morning to take a bus to Madrid or wait to take a new flight on Monday.

According to what those affected have reported to FACUA, the company did not provide them with information at any time about the rights they were entitled to due to the cancellation of their flight. “They only gave us a complaint form to fill out, but without telling us anything else,” says one of the passengers.

The association points out that Air Nostrum thus failed to comply with its obligations towards users. “At no time did they provide us with transportation to Vigo, or accommodation to spend the night,” he continues. And all this despite the fact that European Regulation 261/2004 includes the airline’s obligation to provide “hotel accommodation” and “transport between the airport and the place of accommodation.”

For this reason, in addition to filing complaints with the Consumer authorities, FACUA has also addressed the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) to urge it to investigate and monitor that Air Nostrum complies with its obligations, providing not only compensation to which users of cancelled flights are entitled but by reimbursing all transportation, accommodation and food expenses that those affected have had to bear.

The association recalls that in the case of flights of up to 1,500 kilometres the compensation that airlines must provide to passengers is 250 euro. Likewise, it should also compensate any other type of damages, whether economic or moral, that they may have suffered as a result of this situation.

FACUA also indicates to those affected that they can go to the association to carry out the appropriate actions to defend their rights.

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