Finnair will cover the hotel accommodation costs of its customers who were stranded by the ash cloud according to the price level of the target country. In addition, meals, telephone costs, and transportation between the hotel and airport will be compensated.
Finnair, the Consumer Agency, and Finnish Transport Safety Agency (Trafi) have reached agreement on how Finnair will compensate for the extra costs caused by the ash cloud to its customers.
The compensations for hotel accommodation will be paid based on the Hotel Price Index, which shows the average hotel accommodation price per night in different cities. Based on the index, a customer having stayed in Barcelona, for example, will be paid €99 per night.
Finnair will pay €25/day for extra meals and €20 for telephone costs for each customer. Reasonable transportation costs between the hotel and airport will also be compensated.
Passengers having arranged their return journey themselves will be compensated for all reasonable travel costs that exceed the price of the airline ticket. Here, reasonableness means, among other things, that the return journey has taken place by train, bus or boat – not by taxi, for example.
- We are pleased that the matter could be settled through negotiations and that court proceedings were not needed, says Director Anja Peltonen from the Consumer Agency.
Customers can apply for compensation by entering their claims by way of the feedback form (in Finnish) that is available on Finnair’s website. Finnair will then request customers to send the original vouchers of the costs that they would like to have compensated. Customers can use the Consumer Agency's complaint form (in Finnish) as an aid here. All vouchers must be original. Therefore, copies will not be accepted.
Any customers who are still unsatisfied with the refund have the right to refer to the Consumer Disputes Board. Business passengers can contact the Finnish Transport Safety Agency.