Qantas Hungarian code-share partner Malev stops flying

February 6, 2012 Aviation, Headline News 2 Comments  Print  Email

Hungary’s national airline Malev stopped flying on Friday, grounded after continuing to fly for nearly a month after the European Union ordered it to repay state aid.

“At 0500 GMT on February 3, after 66 years of almost continuous operation, Malev stopped taking off,” the airline’s chief executive Lorant Limburger told a news conference, adding that the crunch came after Israeli ground staff refused to service a Malev flight in Tel Aviv unless they received a “hefty sum” on the spot.

Limburger said stumping up the money would have set a precedent and left the airline unable to pay further similar bills.

Once the news was out, rivals swooped to scoop up Malev’s customers. Ryanair (which 10 days before announced plans to open five new routes out of Budapest airport) swiftly decided to lift the number to 31 routes, basing a fleet of new Boeing 737-800s at Budapest from 17 February. Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air was similarly aggressive, proclaiming that it would boost its Budapest schedules to fill the holes left by Malev.

Malev was previously represented in Australia by Global Aviation Services and general manager Peter McKeon, one of the industry’s foremost acknowledged experts in the field of airline representation.

Malev is a code-share partner of Qantas.

Qantas issued the following statement:

Due to the grounding of Malev Hungarian Airlines, the following Qantas marketed and Malev Hungarian Airlines operated flights will cease operations:

• QF3979 – Frankfurt to Budapest.
• QF3980 – Budapest to Frankfurt.

The following options are available to Qantas customers holding a valid ticket issued on/before 03 February 2012 who are affected by the grounding of Malev Hungarian Airlines.

For customers holiding a Qantas (081) issued ticket:

Re-route/Re-book travel.

• Reroute to/from Budapest via London using British Airways (BA) flights between Budapest and London, and Qantas/British Airways flights between London and Singapore/Australia.
• For customers needing to travel between Budapest and Frankfurt, or if via London option is not available, Re-book travel between Budapest and Frankfurt using Lufthansa (LH) flights.
• If above options are not available, Re-route to/from Budapest via Helsinki using Finnair (AY) between Budapest and Helsinki, connecting onto Qantas marketed and Finnair operated flights between Helsinki and Singapore (QF3874/QF3875).
• Return to the origin port via the most direct routing using Qantas (including Qantas marketed and British Airways operated) flights.
• Change Destinations, the value of the existing ticket can be used towards the purchase of a new ticket. If the new fare is more expensive than the existing ticketed fare, the fare difference is payable by the passenger. Applicable surcharges, fees and taxes may apply.
• Retain the value of the ticket in credit for future travel within 12 months from the original ticketed date of departure. If the new fare is more expensive than the existing ticketed fare, the fare difference is payable by the passenger. Applicable ticket surcharges, fees and taxes may apply.

Refunds

• For customers who have commenced their journey a full refund of the affected sector(s) will be available.
• For customers who have not commenced their journey a full refund will be available.

Conditions

• All changes must be made prior to the original ticketed departure.
• New travel dates must be within ticket validity.
• Re-booking on Qantas (QF), British Airways (BA) and Finnair (AY) flights – If the same booking class is not available, the lowest booking class within the same cabin may be booked (eg within Business or Economy cabin).
• Re-booking on Lufthansa (LH) flights – Customers ticketed in Business cabin must be re-booked in Z class and subject to availability. Customers ticketed in Economy cabin must be re-booked in S class (If S class is not available, V class may be used).
• Qantas will not be responsible for paying any other costs or expenses such as hotel or other ground operator fees arising due to events beyond our control, unless required by applicable laws.
• All other rules and conditions of the ticket remain unchanged.
• Refunds requests must be submitted no later than 31 March 2012.

For customers holding a ticket issued by another carrier (non-081) EXCEPT Malev Hungarian Airlines (182):

Re-route/Re-book travel.

• Reroute to/from Budapest via London using British Airways (BA) flights between Budapest and London, and Qantas/British Airways flights between London and Singapore/Australia.
• Return to the origin port via the most direct routing using Qantas (including Qantas marketed and British Airways operated) flights

For customers holding a ticket issued by Malev Hungarian Airlines (182):

• Passengers who have not commenced travel should refer to Malev Hungarian Airlines. If customers are able to make their own arrangement to join their ticketed Qantas marketed and operated flights (eg. QF5 and QF6), Qantas will be uplifting Malev customers holding (182) tickets for these flights.
• For customers who have commenced travel, Qantas will uplift customers on their ticketed Qantas marketed and operated flights (eg. QF5 and QF6) only. Customers will need to refer to Malev Hungarian Airlines or the operating carrier for other ticketed segments where Qantas is not the operating carrier.

For customers with un-ticketed bookings:

For un-ticketed bookings, alternate routings can be rebooked subject to availability and tickets issued in accordance with fare conditions.

For customers on Frequent Flyer Award Tickets:

Passengers booked on Qantas flights (including Qantas codeshare flights operated by Jetstar) who are travelling on Qantas & Partner Classic Award and Qantas & Jetstar Any Seat Award tickets are entitled to the same options and conditions as listed above.

Note: Passengers on partner airline services are able to re-book or re-route subject to redemption seat availability only.

An explanation, of sorts

Explaining the problems to have struck Malev, the Economist magazine’s respected Gulliver blog said the future of Hungary’s 66-year-old national flag-carrier had  “looked bleak” since the European Commission ruled last month that aid it had received from the Hungarian government between 2007 and its re-nationalisation in 2010 was illegal and therefore the airline would have to repay it.

“The deeply indebted airline had no way of paying the money back and indeed was relying on continuing state backing to keep going while a buyer was sought,” Gulliver noted.

“Early on Friday it ceased flying after the government – which is suffering a debt crisis of its own – decided to stop financing it.”

Striking a vaguely encouraging note, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban said that restarting Malev was “not impossible”.  That phrase hardly sounds like a ringing endorsement.

At one stage Malev was in takeover talks with the Chinese state owners of Hainan Airlines but negotiations fell through.

Malev is the second European carrier to stop flying in the past week. Its demise comes just a few days after the collapse of Barcelona-based carrier Spanair, which followed that of Cirrus, a German regional airline.

Malev ran the following announcement on its website:

IMPORTANT PASSENGER NOTICE

Dear Passengers

Concerning your travel, we suggest that you ask other airlines about their offers or, if possible, you choose an alternative method of transport.

As a consequence of the closure of scheduled Malév flights, you should proceed as follows in order to assert rights set down in Government Decree 5/2012. (I.31) (download available in edition 11 of Magyar Közlöny – 31 January 2012, available at http://www.magyarkozlony.hu/):

-         If you fall under the provisions of Paragraph 2 (1) of Government Decree 5/2012. (I.31)

-         that is, you purchased a ticket prior to closure of operations; and

-         your ticket is for a flight between 3-6 February 2012, or you travelled out on the day of closure or prior to this, and you hold a valid ticket for a Malév scheduled flight operating with a Malév flight number, with the return date until 29 February 2012;

please send your claim for refund of costs to malev@malev.com or to the following address: 1476 Budapest, Postafiók 79. Please attach to the claim copies of all documents relevant to the travel since we are only able to assess the claim when in possession of these documents. You should ensure that all original documents are kept safe.

- You should proceed as follows in order to obtain a refund of the cost of the airfare:

-          if you paid by bank card or through PayPal (online, travel agency, Malév ticketing office), we suggest that you contact your bank to ask about the refund options;

-          if you purchased your ticket in a travel agency for cash or by bank transfer, you should submit your refund claim to the travel agency by 2 March;

-          if you purchased a package holiday including the air ticket in a travel agency, please speak to the travel agency about a refund;

-          if you purchased your air ticket in a Malév office, for cash or by bank transfer, please submit your refund claim to malev@malev.com or to the following address:1476 Budapest, Postafiók 79.  A decision on reimbursement of claims is expected to be handled within the impending bankruptcy procedure and in compliance with the provisions of effective laws;

-          in the case of tickets issued for Malév flights by any other airline, please approach the airline that sold the ticket;

-          if you paid for taxes and charges on a Malév frequent flyer ticket by bank card, we suggest that you contact your bank to ask about the refund options;

-          if you paid for taxes and charges on a Malév frequent flyer ticket by bank transfer, please submit your refund claim to malev@malev.com or to the following address: 1476 Budapest, Postafiók 79.  A decision on reimbursement of claims is expected to be handled within the impending bankruptcy procedure and in compliance with the provisions of effective laws;

-          if you purchased a ticket for another airline using Malév frequent flyer points, please approach the airline in question;

-          if you are travelling on a Malév air ticket issued for the flight of another airline, please submit your refund claim to malev@malev.com or to the following address: 1476 Budapest, Postafiók 79.  A decision on reimbursement of claims is expected to be handled within the impending bankruptcy procedure and in compliance with the provisions of effective laws;

If you have any further questions, please call the Malév Contact Center.

-          From Hungary: 06-40-21-21-21

-          Abroad: +36-1-802-11-11

Written by Peter Needham