The government has approved an amendment to the Aviation Law. The amendment is to the detriment of consumers, in that it extends the time for a refund for a cancelled flight from 21 days to 90 days, but it does oblige the airlines to make a cash refund to the consumer. All airlines represented in Israel will be subject to this law.
The amendment also cancels compensation payable for a cancelled flight. In normal times, consumers are entitled to compensation of between NIS 1,300 and NIS 3,100. The compensation component is now being removed, but consumers will be able to get their money back for fares paid for flights cancelled at the airlines' initiative. In addition, the amendment defines a cancellation entitling the consumer to a refund as any flight that takes off with a delay of twelve hours or more from the scheduled time, instead of eight hours under the law as it currently stands.
The preamble to the amendment states that it is necessitated by current conditions and sets out the difficult position in which the airlines have found themselves since the coronavirus pandemic broke out.
The amended law will be in force until the end of May, but ministers will have the power to extend its validity by a month for up to nine months. The amendment is retroactive to March 1, 2020.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 23, 2020
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