Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

PORTUGAL | CARLOS TORRES 1119 flights to repatriate tourists: “ The UK Government’s main priority is getting you home in what must be a very difficult situation. This is why your flight home today has been arranged at no cost to you ”. A similar effectiveness was revealed by ATOL, in the most massive postWorld War II air operation, following the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook. In Portugal, there is no provision for the repatriation ; at most, there will be a reimbursement , with variable delays, of the return flights that travellers will have to book and pay for by themselves. 11.8. Accommodation expenses before repatriation were also not expressly covered by the Portuguese legislator, who did not transpose, in Article 31 LAVT, the NPTD Article 17/4, which refers “ if necessary, the financing of accommodation prior to the repatriation ”, following the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Verein für Konsumenteninformation case. Although the European legislator prominently enforces the principle of effectiveness (Article 17), following the Baradics case, Portuguese consumers who are victims of the financial collapse of the tour operator will have to pay for the hotel bill in order to check-out and move to the airport. 11.9. Although the Portuguese legislator has the possibility of also holding the retailer responsible for the performance of the package, thus embracing the APAVT/DECO agreement – an inequity will be present, given its small economic dimension and the incipient remuneration – all the other travel agencies and tour operators will be responsible when the operator and the retailer collapse, according to the mandatory collective insolvency protection system that imposes disproportionate burdens on the risk created and constitutes a restriction of competition; 11.10. The intermediation solution suggested by the Portuguese law appears as another fraudulent device to evade the application of the new European framework for package travel. 11.11. Why did this happen, what are the reasons for such a blatant disregard for the new European package travel discipline? In Portugal, the main objective of the transposition of the NPTD was that there were no additional contributions to the public guarantee fund (FGVT). Everything flowed from this strong desire by APAVT.