Will Vim-Avia survive and what to do with the tickets purchased. Tips from AviaSales: What should Vim-Avia passengers do due to canceled flights? What should passengers who have purchased Vim Air tickets do?

Airlines "VIM-Avia" took several hundred tourists by surprise. Since Friday, May 26, departure problems have occurred on more than 20 flights. This most affected the Turkish and Cypriot directions. Tour operators transfer people to other planes and suffer losses, and tourists block the carrier's information desks at the airport because they do not know what to do. The HotLine.travel correspondent turned to lawyers for comments.

Record more than just video

The main rule for tourists who are trapped at the airport is to record everything. And not on video and photos - according to lawyers, this does not work well in court - but on paper. You need to write down in detail: what time you were supposed to leave, how long the flight was postponed, whether you provided food, soft drinks, internet, a room for mother and child, a hotel (from 8 hours). Lawyers also recommend that you independently apply for all of the above and for reliable information about the reasons for non-flight and exact time sending to the airline and tour operator and asking them to sign their response on the same document. If there are no official representatives of the performers or they refuse to sign autographs, gather more witnesses (preferably from among your fellow countrymen) and sign everything yourself, indicating your full name and telephone numbers. All this will help you subsequently defend your rights in court.

“The reason for the flight delay 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. This is more likely a system failure, poor organization of the airline’s work. And since this is not some kind of force majeure, they must bear civil liability, including compensation for losses,” notes the lawyer of the Tourist Rights Protection Club Margarita Eremeeva.

On vacation

For tourists who flew on VIM-Avia because they bought a tour package, lawyers recommend contacting a tour operator. After the flight does take place and the tourists arrive on vacation, the tour organizer will certainly try to resolve all problems on the spot in order to avoid legal claims in the future.

If the flight delay was so significant that it led to a change in the date of check-in at the hotel, upon arrival on vacation tourists will most likely try to somehow compensate for the inconvenience. This could be an additional excursion, an upgrade to the room type, or some other bonus at the discretion of the host. If it was not possible to reach an agreement on the spot, you should submit a written complaint to the tour operator upon returning from your vacation. If the negotiations reach a dead end at this stage, all that remains is to go to court, and it is not a fact that the judge will side with the tourists.

Rosaviation began an unscheduled inspection of VIM-Avia, which last days delayed dozens of flights. The carrier is also being checked by the prosecutor's office and the Investigative Committee. From Tuesday Domodedovo - base airport VIM-Avia refused to service the airline on credit, in particular, to supply fuel. According to Vedomosti, the carrier must air harbor about 500 million rubles. Previously, a case was opened against VIM-Avia due to wage debts of more than 200 million.

The Russian Union of Travel Industry explained that the company was selling too many tickets and could not provide as many flights.

“They physically did not have enough aircraft to provide all the transportation that they sold, especially charters. As soon as there was a failure in their flight program (according to their explanations, some aircraft did not come out of repair), everything fell apart. As they say, greed ruined the fraera,” said Georgy Mokhov, chairman of the legal commission of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry. When the flight program began to crumble in the summer, tour operators suffered greatly, he added.

They physically did not have enough boards to provide all the transportation they sold, especially charters. This can be explained in one simple word - greed.

The editor-in-chief of the Avia.ru portal, Roman Gusarov, advised the carrier's clients who bought tickets for November-December to return them.

“If a decision is made to suspend the work of VIM-Avia, it is better for those who bought tickets for November-December to return their tickets now. And those who bought tickets for the next month will most likely be transported by other companies. I think that passengers they won’t abandon them, but will transfer them to another company that will transport them. “Transaero” was huge; 2 million passengers found themselves in a difficult situation; “VIM-Avia” is significantly inferior to it in terms of volume,” he believes.

According to the expert, if the airline is in summer season has not earned any money, her chances of surviving the winter are minimal. “Everything will depend on the government’s willingness to take some kind of support measures, for example, to provide loan guarantees, and on the willingness of lenders to give money against these guarantees. One more important point– whether the company’s management will be able to offer all parties some kind of program for getting out of a difficult situation that everyone would believe in. If the program to overcome the crisis is real, the carrier will be able to survive for some time,” he explained.

Editor-in-Chief of the Air Transport Review magazine Alexey Sinitsky noted that autumn is a difficult period for all carriers. "In August-September, traffic volumes are even greater, the high season continues, carriers work at summer schedule, and sales go into the winter schedule - their volumes are reduced. This is a stressful period for any company and requires additional financing,” he said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Transport stated that VIM-Avia could. The department noted that the company regularly delayed flights throughout the holiday season, and in September everything was repeated. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, since the beginning of the year the company has delayed about 12% of its flights.

Last Saturday, the carrier did not perform more than a dozen flights as scheduled. The day before, five VIM-Avia flights to Antalya from Domodedovo and Pulkovo were delayed.

VIM-Avia found itself on the verge of bankruptcy. Large Russian airline Since the beginning of the year, about 12% of its flights have been delayed. Moreover, massive and long delays in flight departures began in the summer, but the carrier explained this “ late arrival» aircraft from maintenance. The violations reached such a scale that the Ministry of Transport, the Federal Air Transport Agency, the Prosecutor General's Office and the Investigative Committee intervened in the matter. The latter opened a criminal case under the article “Fraud”.

According to the Association of Tour Operators of the Russian Federation, up to 100 thousand tourists may suffer from the suspension of VIM-Avia charter programs, including those who are waiting for flights to return home.

What's happening with VIM-Avia

Delays of VIM-Avia flights began in the summer, but they were not so large-scale. Mass rescheduling of flights began on September 22. Already on the 23rd, the situation worsened: more than a dozen flights were unable to take off from Domodedovo on time. The VIM-Avia press service explained the problem as a traditional seasonal factor.

From a message from the VIM-Avia press service:

However, the Federal Air Transport Agency said that the long delays of the airline’s flights from Domodedovo airport are due to its “unsettled” debt to fueling organizations. The Ministry of Transport also stated that the situation is not entirely normal.

In the evening On September 23, on behalf of the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, a pre-investigation check began on the fact of violation of the rights of passengers. On September 24, the Vedomosti newspaper reported that the airline had applied to the government for state support, but in the meantime the government of Tatarstan will provide assistance to the carrier. However, a representative of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan told RBC that there are no plans to help the carrier.

According to Vedomosti, Domodedovo Airport refused to service the company's debt (500 million rubles), which caused delays and cancellations of flights.

On September 25, it became known that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia issued a complaint to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Alexander Neradko, in connection with delays in VIM-Avia flights and delays in salaries for the airline’s employees.

On the evening of September 25, the Investigative Committee of Russia announced the initiation of a criminal case according to Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Fraud on an especially large scale”) on the fact of theft Money passengers by officials of VIM-Avia airline.

Press service of the Investigative Committee of Russia:

From the evening of September 25 VIM-Avia has completely stopped flights charter flights . On its VKontakte page, the airline published a message that it “cannot operate flights without additional funding” and plans to “introduce external crisis management.” There is no such message on the official website of VIM-Avia.

From a message from VIM-Avia:

Scale of the disaster

The VIM-Avia company, according to data from the Federal Air Transport Agency, based on the results of the first half of 2017. ranked tenth in passenger traffic. The main activity of the airline, based in Domodedovo, is regular and charter passenger transportation from Moscow and regional airports. In 2016, the airline carried 2 million passengers.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, in January - August 2017, VIM-Avia delayed about 1,020 flights by more than two hours, and another 209 flights by more than six hours.

The Russian Union of Travel Industry stated that Now from the resorts it is necessary to remove from 50 thousand to 100 thousand VIM-Avia passengers In total, the airline has obligations to more than 190 thousand passengers. However, doing them is quite problematic.

Irina Tyurina, press secretary of the RST:

Now there are no free sides on the market, or rather, there are very few of them. If they had held out until the end of September, the sides could have been searched for. Tour operators now in this situation will have to urgently decide what to do with tourists. The main thing is to take tourists out, because the tour there can be cancelled, but, of course, tour operators will be forced to return the money.

ATOR claims that paying for all the flights could cost at least $10 million.

The Federal Tourism Agency has created today operational headquarters in connection with the termination of charter flight programs by VIM-Avia. Now the agency, together with tour operators, is compiling a list of tourists who need help returning home.

The decision on the fate of the airline itself will be made by the end of the week, writes RNS with reference to the Federal Air Transport Agency. The department is now considering several options, including the introduction of anti-crisis management and the removal of management from control over economic activity. Work continues with VIM-Avia’s creditors.

What should tourists do?

As the head of the Ural Tourism Association, Mikhail Maltsev, told the site, not a very large number of tourists will suffer from problems with VIM-Avia. These are mainly those who had to fly on vacation from Moscow, and not from Yekaterinburg, or independent tourists.

Mikhail Maltsev, head of the Ural Tourism Association:

The fact is that the first incident with the airline occurred back in June. We had two large tour operators who transported VIM-Avia clients. They turned out to be quite far-sighted, or the circumstances were such that these tour operators carried out the rest of the program on other airlines. In this situation, our Urals residents can only suffer if they were flying through the Moscow air hub.

According to Maltsev, the situation with VIM-Avia is a classic case when the Association of Tour Operators “Turpomosch” gets involved in the work.

Mikhail Maltsev:

According to the executive director of UAT, if you bought a tour package, then there is no reason to worry: It’s the tour operator’s job to find you a new carrier. “Those who purchased tour packages are fully protected. Tour operators will cope with this problem, assures Maltsev. “If you took the flight as an ordinary, unorganized tourist, then your fate will be decided depending on how the fate of the airline develops.”

Despite assurances that everything will be fine, hundreds of tourists cannot fly abroad and return on time.

Instructions on what to do if your flight is delayed

Firstly, you can cancel the flight and get your money back. Even if your ticket was non-refundable. In the event of a delay due to the fault of the airline, the cancellation of the flight is considered forced, so the carrier is obliged to return the money.

Secondly, you may be eligible for compensation for moral damages and damages. An airline client can file a claim with the carrier for compensation for losses incurred due to a flight delay (for example, if a person missed the train and his excursions, which were paid in advance, were cancelled). The claim must be accompanied by copies of documents that confirm what losses have been incurred. You can present it at the airport of both departure and destination. If we are talking about delays in domestic transportation, a claim can be filed within six months from the date of the flight delay.

Third, You can collect a fine from the airline. If the reason was not force majeure, then the carrier is obliged to pay you 25% of the minimum wage (with a minimum wage of 8862 rubles - this is 2215 rubles) for each hour of delay, but not more than 50% of the ticket price.

Fourthly, in case of flight delay the airline is obliged to provide a room for mother and child a passenger with a preschooler (up to seven years old). And take care of your luggage: organize its storage in appropriate chambers. If your flight is delayed by more than two hours, you must be given the opportunity to call twice or send two emails. The airline must also provide passengers with refreshments.

Fifthly, if the flight is delayed by four hours you can count on lunch or dinner. Then you are provided with hot meals every six hours during the day and every eight hours at night. If the flight is delayed by six hours at night and eight hours during the day you have the right to a hotel. Airline representatives are also responsible for delivering you to your hotel and back.

Remember that to receive all these “free benefits” you must contact the airline representatives yourself. Go to the check-in counter and get a certificate indicating the flight delay time or put a special stamp on your ticket. This will document the fact of the delay. And most importantly: collect receipts for all these services.

After this, write a statement to the airline asking to reimburse all expenses. All receipts, a certificate of flight delay and a ticket must be attached to the application. Be prepared for the fact that you will have to defend your rights in court. However, if we take into account that the financial situation of VIM-Avia is “quite deplorable”, it will be difficult to obtain compensation, even if the passenger wins in court.