The low-cost airline Blue Air got a
\nnew 2-million-EUR fine from the Consumer Protection Authority for the flights
\nit cancelled after June 15 and September 6, respectively. Over 150,000
\npassengers from 23 EU member states were affected, the total value of the
\nprejudice exceeding 19.5 million EUR, accounting just for the value of the
\ntickets purchased, authorities say. At the same time, Blue Air awarded refunds
\nonly to 1% of passengers. In light of its findings, the Consumer Protection
\nAuthority decided to hand out two new fines, one worth 2 million EUR, and a
\nsecond one worth 40,000 EUR for repeated violations. In July, Blue Air got another 2-million-EUR
\nfine from the Consumer Protection Authority for cancelling over 11 thousand
\nflights over 2021-2022, the total value of tickets standing at some 13.5
\nmillion EUR. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Blue Air flights are currently suspended starting September 6,
\nairline officials arguing at the time that the Environment Ministry froze the
\ncompany’s bank accounts due to the accrued debt. Although the freeze was lifted
\nthe next day, and the authorities ruled that Blue Air was to pay its debt for
\nenvironment permits in spaced-out installments over the course of a year, Blue
\nAir announced it is unable to resume flights on October 10, as originally
\nannounced, due to the company experiencing financial difficulties. Blue Air is
\ncurrently talking to potential investors, lenders and the authorities with a
\nview to restructuring its capital profile and eventually resuming flights. The
\nGovernment has allotted 1 million EUR from its reserve fund to bring Romanians
\nleft stranded in international airports back home with the help of the national
\nairline Tarom. Blue Air however must cover these costs as well, the authorities
\npointed out. Blue Air’s total debt was estimated at over 230 million EUR. The
\ncompany was set up in 2004 and branched out in the following years. In recent
\nyears, however, the main shareholder was arrested by anti-corruption
\nprosecutors and sentenced to prison, which is when the company’s financial
\ntroubles started. In 2020, against the COVID-19 pandemic, Blue Air secured a
\n60-million-EUR state-guaranteed loan. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Blue Air has an arrangement with creditors
\nuntil June 2023, signed over two years ago with a view to avoiding insolvency,
\nrecovering and paying its outstanding debt. Many Romanians who have filed for
\nrefunds as a result of their flights getting cancelled by Blue Air got nothing
\nin return. Very few decided to take the airline to court, where they eventually
\nobtained what they were due plus an interest for the period of time their money
\nwas withheld by Blue Air. (VP)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Romanian low-cost airline Blue Air received a new fine from the Consumer Protection Authority for the flights it cancelled in recent months<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":93352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[35462,40675,40676,40677],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-93351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-blue-air","tag-cancelled-flights","tag-consumer-protection-authority","tag-new-fine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n