Airlines owe more than a billion euros for UK travelers, number is expected to shoot up in summer

Getting ready for a beach holiday? Already daydreaming about those long walks along the ocean? Well, better dream carefully, because airlines have other plans. Summer is not only peak season for vacation and travelling, but for delays and cancellations as well, say experts at www.skycop.com. As airports across the globe are getting ready for ‘the busiest summer yet’, airlines debt for UK travelers is expected to further increase, currently estimated at more than 1 billion euros  for delayed, cancelled and overbooked flights.

Inspired mainly by the low fuel prices, the international passenger numbers are on a constant upward trend, averaging around 5% growth each month, says IATA. However, when it comes to summer peak period, the numbers jump significantly. The growth not only includes flyer volumes, but ticket prices and, unfortunately, delay and cancellation numbers. On average, flight disturbance numbers leap 10% compared to rest of the year, making seemingly one of the most amazing period of the year into a nightmare passengers wish to forget.

“At any given day, around 3000-5000 flights are delayed in the EU and these numbers are about to rise into levels we have never seen before,” says Marius Stonkus, CEO of SKYCOP, a company, standing up for passengers and their rights in a fight against airline misbehaviour towards flight refunds. “It is yet unknown why airlines are so sluggish when preparing for the summer season – they sure prepare for it in the ticket price section, however, the same can’t be said about the flights themselves. Of course, this opens doors for passengers to not only get back money for tickets, but get a moral, up to €600 compensation as well, which might be a great investment into next year’s vacation.”

Expert says that delays are more common occurrence during the summer than cancellations, due to the increased traffic in airports. In a case of delay, EU law ensures you are entitled to compensation if your flight was late for more than 3 hours. If your flight was cancelled less than 14 days prior your flight – you can get up to €600.