Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ARTICLE 1 | F. JAVIER MELGOSA ARCOS 79 equivalent or a higher quality. The organiser shall without undue delay inform the traveller in a clear, comprehensible and prominent manner on a durable medium of: (a) the proposed changes referred to in paragraph 2 and, where appropriate, in accordance with paragraph 4, their impact on the price of the package; (b) a reasonable period within which the traveller has to inform the organiser of his decision; (c) the consequences of the traveller’s failure to respond within the period in accordance with applicable national law; and (d) where applicable, the offered substitute package and its price. If the package travel contract is terminated and the traveller does not accept a substitute package, the organiser shall refund all payments made by or on behalf of the traveller without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days after the contract is terminated. 2.5.4. Termination of the package travel contract and the right of withdrawal before the start of the package Article 12 of the Directive provides that Member States shall ensure that the traveller may terminate the package travel contract at any time before the start of the package. Where the traveller terminates the package travel contract under this paragraph, the traveller may be required to pay an appropriate and justifiable termination fee to the organiser. The package travel contract may specify reasonable standardised termination fees based on the time of the termination of the contract before the start of the package and the expected cost savings and income from alternative deployment of the travel services. In the absence of standardised termination fees, the amount of the termination fee shall correspond to the price of the package minus the cost savings and income from alternative deployment of the travel services. At the traveller’s request the organiser shall provide a justification for the amount of the termination fees. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the traveller shall have the right to terminate the package travel contract before the start of the package without paying any termination fee in the event of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occurring at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the package, or which significantly affect the carriage of passengers to the destination. In the event of termination of the package travel contract under this paragraph, the traveller shall be entitled to a full refund of any payments made for the package, but shall not be entitled to additional compensation.