Unforeseen: EU starts investigation against Hungarian Wizz Air!

According to the allegations, the Hungarian low-cost airline, Wizz Air, potentially mislead its customers concerning its environmental claims. Therefore, the European Commission and EU consumer protection authorities began an investigation against the airline and 19 other ones.

Is Wizz Air in trouble?

“The action follows concerns raised by European consumer organisation BEUC and is led by watchdogs in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain, but the 20 airlines were not identified in a statement published earlier this week”, Business Travel News Europe wrote.

According to airportal.hu, the 20 airlines included are Air Baltic, Air Dolomiti, Air France, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Ryanair, SAS, Swiss, TAP, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air.

Photo: FB/Wizz Air

What happened?

“Following an alert from the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), the European Commission and EU consumer authorities (Network of Consumer Protection Cooperation – CPC – Authorities) sent letters to 20 airlines identifying several types of potentially misleading green claims and inviting them to bring their practices in line with EU consumer law within 30 days”, the European Commission’s official website wrote in the issue in a statement for the press.

The investigation “focused on claims made by airlines that the CO2 emissions caused by a flight could be offset by climate projects or through the use of sustainable fuels, to which the consumers could contribute by paying additional fees.

Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel. The leaders of the European Commission and the European Council. Photo: FB/EuropeanCommission

The authorities are concerned that the identified practices can be considered as misleading actions/omissions, prohibited under Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. On their part, the airlines are yet to clarify whether such claims can be substantiated based on sound scientific evidence.”

You may read about the key elements of the action in the full statement of the EC HERE.

Wizz Air has 30 days to clear its name

Wizz Air and the other 19 airlines have 30 days to provide a response and propose measures to address the concerns. Afterwards, the European Commission will organise a meeting with the Consumer Protection Cooperation and the airlines to discuss the solutions.

Wizz Air CEO József Váradi. Photo: FB/Budflyer

Provided some airlines do not take the necessary steps, the European Commission may impose sanctions.

Read also:

• You can now buy tickets for exhibitions and sightseeing tours on Wizz Air platforms – Read more HERE
• Popular Wizz Air flight’s travel time significantly increased