On Monday, September 25, the Ministry of Transport of Russia and the Federal Air Transport Agency announced that VIM-Avia has suspended passenger charter flights. Already today, at the company's base airport - Domodedovo - all 14 flights planned for the day were canceled.
What happened to the company
The airline, whose flights began at the end of May, ran out of money, and it can no longer fulfill its obligations to passengers. The debt to airports and fuel suppliers is, according to The Bell, about 10 billion rubles. Lenders, in particular the Zenit bank close to the government of Tatarstan, do not want to continue financing the company.
How many passengers could suffer because of this
The Association of Russian Tour Operators believes that the situation with the carrier "will lead to a collapse in the tourism and aviation markets," and urges the state to intervene. ATOR estimates the potential number of tourists who may be affected by the cancellation of flights at 100 thousand people. According to the estimates of the Turpomosch association, 43 thousand of them are now abroad: in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain and Crete.
How VIM-Avia is planning to get out of the crisis
At the same time, the company itself assures that "all possible measures are taken for the speedy removal of passengers."
PRESS SERVICE “VIM-AVIA”
On behalf of the entire VIM-Avia airline, we apologize to the passengers of the delayed flights. Unfortunately, we are forced to state that the VIM-Avia Airlines has a difficult economic situation. Working capital has run out, funding has been frozen, and airport services have been suspended. At the moment, we are continuing negotiations with financial institutions on supporting the airline to normalize the situation and speedy removal of passengers. The airline counts on the support of government agencies, as well as partners from the tourism industry. And since the airline cannot fly without additional funding, we plan to introduce an external crisis management.
A married couple from Moscow Ivan Voloshchenko and Ekaterina Demidova for almost two days can not fly to Moscow from the Fethiye region in Turkey.
They purchased a package tour at NTK Intourist and on September 17 flew by Yamal Airlines to Dalaman Airport, and then checked into the Sentido Lykia Resort & Spa.
Ivan and Ekaterina were supposed to fly home on September 25th with VIM-Avia Airlines on flight 9304 from Dalaman Airport. However, at first the flight was postponed, but now there is no new information about the departure. “We lack information, we want to understand what is happening,” Ekaterina shares. - Yesterday we packed our things and didn’t know until the evening where we would spend the night. ”
The family is awaiting news at their hotel. The cost of accommodation and food these days was taken by the travel agency. However, the couple had to move to a house on the outskirts of the hotel. Presumably, it is designed for hotel staff.
“Of course, waiting here is better than at a hotel at the airport, but my husband still had to go to work on September 26th. Important meetings broke down and the leadership is not happy, ”Ekaterina complains.
Dmitry Shevchenko, partner of the legal bureau Zamoskvorechye
In principle, if a couple found themselves in Turkey on a “ticket”, that is, having bought a tourist product from a tour operator or through his intermediary, then they must first contact the operator or agent.
In this situation, upon returning to your home country, you can file a lawsuit against the air carrier with a request to compensate for the actual losses incurred, additional costs associated with staying at the resort and, if the spouses decide to buy the ticket back at their own expense, by paying the return flight.
It is clear that, given the scale of the problem, they won’t get any money right away, even after a court ruling in their favor. However, in the future, in the event of a likely bankruptcy of the company, their requirements may well be entered by decision of the manager into the register of claims against the carrier. Consequently, it will be possible to fully or partially satisfy their requirements only upon completion of bankruptcy proceedings, and if you look at the example of Transaero, this can happen in a year or two. Actually, in this situation I see no other way. The carrier does not have money; not only ordinary passengers make demands on it, but also creditors, employees, and airports.
Dmitry Khavansky, Skyscanner Development Manager in Russia
How to get compensation for a canceled or delayed flight
In Russia, according to Article 126 of the Air Code of the Russian Federation, you can make a claim against the carrier within six months from the date of cancellation or delay of the flight.
To receive money for the flight transfer, you need to attach copies of the following documents to the application addressed to the airline (which must be sent by registered letter to the airline's address with a detailed description of the investments):
Flights marked with airport staff about delayed or canceled flights. A confirmation certified by a representative of a company or airport can also serve as confirmation. If the stamp or certificate could not be obtained, attach copies of tickets and boarding passes;
Checks and receipts proving that you incurred extra expenses due to the transfer of the flight;
Tickets for events, receipts for payment of excursions, invitations to family holidays, medical certificates, letters - all this, according to paragraph 2 of Art. 13 of the Law of 07.02.1992 N 2300-1, can serve as a basis for compensation for associated losses and moral damage if your trip had a clear goal - for example, a concert of a rarely performing band, a football match, a friend’s wedding or a meeting with a seriously ill relative.
The airline must make a decision on your claim within 30 days of receipt (paragraph 1 of article 128 of the RF CC).
If the carrier does not satisfy your requirements, you can sue him within three years from the moment of delay or cancellation of the flight (paragraph 1 of article 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The package of documents in this case looks like this:
Statement of claim;
A copy of the travel document with a note on the delay of departure or flight cancellation;
Bills for hotel accommodation, meals, telephone calls, etc .;
Documents confirming that due to the fault of the airline you suffered related material or moral damage;
A written complaint to the airline with proof of dispatch and, preferably, receipt;
The answer of the representatives of the air carrier (if one was given).
What is the airline obliged to provide the passenger free of charge in case of flight delay?
Clause 99 of the Federal Aviation Rules clearly defines how airlines must compensate for the inconvenience caused by the transfer of a flight.
If the flight is delayed by more than 2 hours, you are entitled to 2 phone calls or 2 e-mails, free drinks, free access to the mother and child’s room if you are traveling with children under 7 years old.
If the flight is delayed for more than 4 hours, you must be provided with free hot meals. If the flight is delayed for a long time, you should be fed every 6 hours in the daytime and every 8 hours at night.
Passengers whose flight has been rescheduled for more than 8 hours during the day or more than 6 hours at night, the airline must place at the hotel and provide a round-trip transfer. At the same time, according to the law, you cannot be accommodated in the same room with strangers.
Airlines VIM-Avia several hundred tourists were taken by surprise. Starting on Friday, May 26, departure problems occurred on more than 20 flights. Most of all this affected the Turkish and Cypriot directions. Tour operators transfer people to other sides and suffer losses, and tourists block the carrier's information desks at the airport, because they do not know what to do. HotLine.travel correspondent asked for comments to lawyers.
Record more than just video
The main rule for tourists who are trapped at the airport is to fix everything. And not on video and photos - according to lawyers, this does not work well in court - but on paper. It is necessary to write down thoroughly: what time they had to fly, how much the flight was rescheduled, whether they provided food, soft drinks, the Internet, a room for mother and child, a hotel (from 8 hours). Lawyers also recommend that you independently apply for the provision of all of the above and for reliable information about the reasons for the flight and the exact time of sending to the airline and tour operator and ask them to sign their response on the same act. If there are no official representatives of the performers or they refuse to sign autographs, collect more witnesses (preferably from among their fellow countrymen) and sign everything by ourselves, indicating the name and telephone numbers. All this will help subsequently defend their rights in court.
“The reason for the delay in the flight will be of great importance here. We have safety rules, aircraft malfunctions, weather conditions, etc., but as I understand it, this is not the case with VIM-Avia. It is rather a system failure, poor organization of the airline. And since this is not some force majeure, they must bear civil liability, including compensation for losses, ”said the lawyer of the Club for the Protection of Tourist Rights Margarita Eremeeva.
On vacation
For tourists who flew to VIM-Avia because they bought a tour package, lawyers recommend contacting a tour operator. After the departure takes place and the tourists arrive on vacation, the tour organizer will probably try to resolve all problems on the spot in order to avoid legal claims in the future.
If the flight delay turned out to be so significant that it led to a change in the date of check-in at the hotel, tourists will most likely try to somehow compensate for the inconvenience upon arrival on vacation. This may be an additional excursion, improvement of the type of room or some other bonus at the discretion of the host party. If it was not possible to agree on the spot, a written complaint should be submitted to the tour operator upon returning from vacation. If the negotiations come to a standstill at this stage, it remains to go to court, and not the fact that the judge will side with the tourists.
