The big fright at check-in: Swiss and co. Reject passengers before departure
Many airlines are slowly ramping up their flight plans. They also offer tickets to places where Swiss people are currently not allowed to enter – with bad consequences for passengers. Consumer advocates criticize Swiss communication. This promised improvement.
Airlines like Swiss are slowly ramping up the flight schedule. However, caution is advised when booking. Image: keystone
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Swiss has had enough of temporary partial grounding. From mid-June, the Lufthansa subsidiary plans to ramp up its flight schedule again, to up to 20 percent of the usual volume. Numerous destinations are returning to the route network – such as Chicago, Singapore, Hong Kong or Tokyo on the long haul or Athens, Naples and Barcelona on the short haul. Swiss CEO Thomas Klühr recently advertised the “attractive destinations” in an SRF interview. Klühr is not alone in the spirit of optimism. Other airlines are also starting up again.
Safe flying should be possible again – one would think. But this is not the case. In many countries, entry regulations are still strict, ranging from entry bans to forced quarantines. How long they remain in force is often unclear.
Increased number of stopped passengers in Zurich
This is already causing bad surprises at airports. “In the past few days, there have been increased cases of passengers in Zurich who could not leave or could not enter or continue traveling,” says a Swissport spokeswoman. The company carries out check-in, boarding and luggage transport on behalf of the airlines. The affected passengers, including those from Swiss, would not have fulfilled the entry requirements for their desired destination. Therefore, she had to be sent back home or, in the case of transfer passengers, to her place of departure, the spokeswoman said. Both Swiss and Swissport emphasize that the passengers themselves are responsible for checking the entry rules.
For an industry representative who does not want to be named, it is clear: “Swiss expects all customers to inform themselves in advance, but that will not happen.” He believes that many more passengers will be turned away in the coming days and weeks. “This will cause very uncomfortable situations at the airport and a lot of frustration for customers.”
Franco Muff, Ombudsman for the Swiss travel industry, describes it as problematic when airlines offer flights to a country that neither Swiss nor other Europeans have access to. One could ask oneself to what extent such offers make sense, says Muff. “I suspect that the airline is simply hoping for an opening soon.”
For in between: airplane passengers of horror
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Swiss passenger: “I feel rocked!”
Swiss customer Tobias S. (name of the editor known) is annoyed about the airline. “I feel rocked.” He wanted to travel to Japan with his family in July to visit relatives. He had bought the tickets a long time ago, but practically gave up hope due to the corona pandemic. “When I saw that Swiss was again selling flights to Tokyo in the summer, I was made to listen.”
Tobias S. contacted Swiss and wanted to know if his flight was taking place. The answer: “The flights are currently being carried out according to plan.” However, he can check the current status online “a few days before departure”. If it does not take place, the ticket can be rebooked once until the end of 2021, which could make the ticket price more expensive. Regarding entry requirements in Japan: not a word. This is despite the fact that, according to industry information, Japan is prohibited from entering 120 countries, including Switzerland.
After consulting with relatives in Japan, Tobias S. had doubts. He asked. Only then did Swiss admit that there could be “changes at any time” in the entry requirements. The best thing to do is to contact the Japanese embassy. In addition, she sent him an entry overview of the industry association IATA to the individual countries. The link to this can also be found on the Swiss website, but not very prominently and only in English.
Consumer protection demands a warning when booking
Sara Stalder, managing director of the consumer protection foundation, criticizes. She expects better communication from a large company like Swiss. This is how the airline could translate the English travel regulations. “After all, it should be important to her that people book flights with confidence,” says Stalder. “But Swiss obviously weights the economic aspect – selling flights at any price – higher than adequate information for customers.”
Stalder demands that a clear warning appears before the booking process. Faced with the criticism, the airline praises the improvement: Currently, the possibility of integrating current entry information directly into the booking process is being examined, says a spokeswoman. In addition, reference is made to the relevant information points when making an inquiry. However, the passenger had to inform himself early about the entry requirements, «since we cannot accept any responsibility for this». (aargauerzeitung.ch)
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