The Legal Impacts of COVID-19 in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry

Following the decision of some Countries to impose restrictions – in the view of containing the expansion of the COVID-19 epidemic spread - towards passengers arriving from Italy or who stayed in Italy during the 14 days before their arrival, ENAC, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority, informs about the following: Passengers whose flights have been cancelled, passengers who are not able to utilise air tickets because of the restrictions imposed by third countries towards those incoming from Italy or who have stayed in Italy for the 14 days before their arrival and passengers who, by order of the Authorities, are subject to measures to contain the Covid19 epidemic spread • are entitled to be refunded the ticket price by the air carrier; • are not entitled to receive the financial compensation provided for art. 5 of Reg. No. 261 of 2004 (about cancellation, denied boarding and prolonged delay), as the flight cancellations are not dependent on a cause imputable to the air carrier. To receive the refund of the ticket price the passenger has to refer to the specific Regional ordinance or to the Health Authority Document that imposed the restriction or the measures to contain the epidemic spread. ” 10 . 3.1. The amendment contained in paragraph 4, Art. 88 bis : possible infringement of Regulation No. 261/2004 Until 26 April, one would have excluded any possible infringement of European Regulation No. 261/2004 by the former frame of Art. 28, which only disciplined those cases in which the traveller is not in the position of receiving the performance of the carrier, or decides to withdraw from the contract due to restriction measures, quarantine or the impossibility to enter the country of destination. However, the situation considered by the Commission has to be distinguished from the situation where the carrier cancels the journey and chooses to offer a voucher instead reimbursement or re-routing, which is precisely what Art. 88 bis , paragraph 4 provides for. These situations are covered by Regulation No. 261: if the carrier proposes a voucher, this offer cannot affect the passenger’s right to instead opt for reimbursement. With the obvious outcome that only the passenger has the right to choose between reimbursement and voucher. From a theoretical point of view, the reasoning of the Commission is coherent and the Regulation is clear. The provision of paragraph 4 of Art. 88 bis may certainly be incompatible with the Regulations on passengers’ rights, to the extent that it prevents passengers from resorting to the more favourable reimbursement option provided for in the same Regulation, obliging them to accept the voucher. This might also be true despite the nature of overriding mandatory provision of Art. 88 bis itself, which made sense when Art. 28 was adopted (at the beginning of March), because, at that time, there was the need to regulate a limited emergency, as far as the portion of territory, and the limited number of individuals affected. 10 Press Release No. 12/2020, 29 February 2020, Coronavirus: information to passengers, www.enac.gov.it . The Press Release is being constantly updated depending on the legislative provisions adopted.