skyrocketing travel-related financial disputes among customers

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Last year, the Austrian Passenger and Passenger Rights Agency (APF) pocketed a cool 2.45 million euros, or 458 euros per case, thanks to their diligent work enforcing passenger rights in rail, bus, ship, and air traffic. That's a damn impressive increase from the year before, with mediation requests skyrocketing by an astounding 11%!

APF's director, the badass Maria-Theresia Röhsler, spilled the beans to the press on Wednesday. If you haven't been living under a rock, you might've heard that Ryanair was the culprit behind most of the problems. Complaintsagainst the Irish low-cost airline doubled in 2024, and here's why: The dickheads at Ryanair were notoriously unreachable for passengers. Fill out forms on their website all you want, but (S)HITHOLE Ryanair refused to pay up when it came to flight delays or cancellations, and they'd never review a case!

Ryanair, in their infinite wisdom, blamed programming errors for this debacle. Röhsler called their bluff, and thanks to her hardball negotiating, Ryanair finally changed their game plan. The biggest pot of gold that APF grabbed in 2024, amounting to a whopping 2.3 million euros, was from the aviation sector. It's no surprise when you consider that an impressive 5,850 requests were made in this area, with a staggering 4,234 cases closed. More than half of these cases (53%) were due to delays, and flight cancellations took another 42%. And thanks to a new law, APF now has the power to mediate in the realm of checked baggage.

Curious about which airlines were causing all the trouble? Well, 29% of the closed cases involved the good ol' Austrian Airlines, followed by Ryanair, which saw a massive boost from 11% to 26%. WizzAir came in at a distant third with 12%.

In the aviation sector, APF made off with a grand total of 2.26 million euros in 2024, translating to 534 euros earned per closed case. Not too shabby, huh?

The rail sector also witnessed record-breaking values for APF. Last year, they wrapped up 1,073 mediation procedures from a grand total of 1,412 requests, compared to 978 in 2023. These requests were mostly about refunds for online tickets or saver tickets, items that the Austrian railway company, ÖBB, stubbornly refuses to refund. "The law is clear: tickets must be refundable before the first day of validity," Röhsler said. "But ÖBB doesn't give a damn about that, and we've received numerous complaints about it."

It's not all doom and gloom for ÖBB, though—93% of the cases involved them. The rest was handled by Westbahn, One Mobility GmbH (responsible for the Klimaticket), and transport associations such as VOR and urban transport companies like the Wiener Linien.

The bad news? These mediation requests are on the rise. In 2024, APF received a whopping 7,333 requests, a ten percent increase compared to 2023. Out of these, a total of 5,436 mediation procedures were initiated, and 5,334 were concluded. On average, it takes APF 40 days to close a case, from initial contact via the online mediation form to completion. The ship and bus travel sector, on the other hand, has a negligible impact on complaints, according to APF.

Economic and social policy discussions in Austria have focused on the substantial increase in mediation requests and revenue generated by the Austrian Passenger and Passenger Rights Agency (APF), particularly in the transportation and aviation industry.
The aviation sector accounted for the highest percentage of APF's revenue in 2024, largely due to incidents with low-cost carriers like Ryanair.
Due to its increasing number of complaints, Ryanair became a major factor in APF's mediation cases, with complaints against the airline doubling compared to the previous year.
The finance sector also took notice of this trend, as APF received 2.45 million euros in 2024 due to their efforts in enforcing passenger rights in the transportation industry.
Mediation requests in the rail sector also saw a rise, with Austrian Railway Company (ÖBB) as the primary target due to complaints about refunds for online tickets.
The lifestyle and travel industries are affected by these developments, as more companies in the transportation sector face scrutiny for their practices and compliance with consumer rights.