Flight delays: For the first time an airline company to refund passengers

Shanghai (AsiaNews/SCMP) –Shenzhen Airlines is the first Chinese company to refund passengers for flight delays. Passengers have been increasingly complaining about the company's poor and inefficient service. The regional airliner, which is partially owned by Air China, announced last Monday that it was adopting compensation standards for problems ranging from death to lost luggage.

Shenzhen Airlines' new policy comes at a time when China's Civil Aviation Administration is urging both big and small airlines to improve their service. As one official said, "the number of complaints has increased proportionately to that of passengers, primarily because of flight delays." Shenzhen will refund the entire ticket for flight delays that are longer than 8 hours, 30% for delays between 4 and 8 hours. Refunds will vary according to the cause of delays: mechanical problems, flight planning or problems with airline staff. A company spokesperson said that weather-related delays are not refundable. In case of accidental death, Shenzhen Airlines plans to compensate victims' families with sums ranging from 570,000 to 1.07 million yuans depending on the circumstances.

News about Shenzhen Airlines compensation policy sparked a chain reaction in other companies. Prompted by a TV report broadcast last Tuesday on the new compensation policy, the 111 passengers of delayed China Southern Airlines flight CZ358 travelling from Dalian to Guangzhou demanded a refund of 500 yuans each to cover the full ticket price. To avert a scuffle at the departure gate the company, faced down by determined passengers, was able to negotiate a payout of 200 yuans per passenger.

This week China Southern Airlines, Air China and China Eastern announced their intention to establish compensation standards to deal with the problem. Hong Kong's Dragonair announced that if necessary it would offer passengers alternative flights, free overnight stays and meals but that it would not provide monetary compensation. Other companies like Shanghai Airlines have not yet said whether they would follow Shenzhen's lead.

If refunding passengers seems such a novelty in China's airline industry, it is however a longstanding practice at the international level. Airline companies must in fact conform to the compensation provisions of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air, signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929 (amended on 28 September 1955). For example, the Convention has set compensation for luggage lost at per kilogram of registered luggage. The European Union adopted last year new compensation levels in case of flight cancellation: 600€ for flights of 3.500 km or more, 400 for flights between 1.500 and 3.500 km, and 250 for shorter flights. (MA)

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