On August 29, about 150 passengers were due to board a flight to Nantes in Rome. Despite European regulations, the low-cost airline refuses to compensate and is playing the usury card.
Once again, a Volotea flight has turned into a nightmare for its passengers. This is far from being a first, the Spanish low-cost airline is regularly criticized for cases of very long delays.
This time, it was a flight between Rome and Nantes that was due to take off on Thursday, August 30, which arrived… 18 hours late. Takeoff was scheduled for 8:20 p.m. but, between delays and cancellations, the passengers finally left the next day at 2:15 p.m.
Obviously, most of the 150 passengers on this flight immediately filled out the form requesting compensation and payment of their expenses, as required by European texts.
But while Volotea’s response was quick, it has angered customers since the company refuses any compensation. In an email seen by our colleagues at France 3, the operator put forward “circumstances beyond its control” to justify its refusal.
“Bad faith”
A classic move for Anaïs Escudé, founder of Retardvol.fr. “The email sent by the company is devoid of any reason. They mention exceptional circumstances but none of them are described. Volotea tries to push passengers to give up, to prevent them from going through with the procedure, it’s a technique that sometimes works,” she explains to us.
“Passengers are eligible for compensation and coverage of expenses incurred,” she said.
What solution for passengers? Hire a lawyer or call on an intermediary like Retardvol.fr (which takes a 30% commission in the event of success). “We can counter them with solid case law and by summoning them if necessary. This is what we do to counter the bad faith of the companies,” the specialist emphasizes.
As is often the case, Volotea was notable for its lack of communication and support, “we never had any explanations about the reason for the delays and no way to contact them to understand them. Now, we are vaccinated against this airline”, laments one passenger.
Olivier Chicheportiche BFM Business journalist
