One of the biggest issues in the travel sector since the start of the pandemic has been the thorny issue of refunds.
When global travel was effectively stopped, the industry had to work out what to do about the tickets that had already been paid for. Companies and individuals had paid out billions of euros, pounds and dollars on tickets that would no longer be used.
Where did that money sit? Could you get it back and within what timescale? Some airlines said they wouldn’t give money back but only issue vouchers. Some in the industry faced an existential crisis because of the refund demands.
The repercussions of the decisions made at that time are still playing out in the sector.
The German Business Travel Association (VDR) has been calling for airlines to only take payment at the moment of departure in order to resolve the issue. Lufthansa has now made changes to its Pay-as-you-F|ly scheme for corporates to allow this. Will other airlines follow suit?
The discussion features Christoph Carnier, president of the VDR, Guillaume Bizet of Areka Consulting and David Bishop of Gray Dawes Group along with regular host Mark Frary.