The authorities of Lower Saxony, located in the northwest Germany, called for the cancellation of prepayment for airline tickets. The reason was the cancellation of thousands of flights by European carriers this summer.
The Minister of Transport of Lower Saxony, Bernd Altusmann, proposed the implementation of the Pay As You Fly (PAYF) model, in which passengers pay for tickets only when checking in for a flight.
According to a report in the German business magazine Handelsblatt, the Federal Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection has accepted the proposal. It will be included in the agenda of the next government meeting on September 16.
Proponents of the new system believe that its implementation will result in only minimal additional costs for airlines, in return for travelers being spared the headache of getting refunds for tickets.
The German Business Travel Association (VDR), which has been promoting the PAYF model since 2021, also welcomed the Saxons’ initiative: “Overpayment for air travel is an outdated system that should be replaced by fast electronic payment immediately before departure,” said VDR President Christophe Carrier. In this way, it will be possible to avoid bureaucratic procedures related to the cancellation of reservations and receiving refunds, and therefore, this step will “correspond to the real interests of consumers.”
In March 2021, Lufthansa introduced a pre-departure payment system for European business customers. At the same time, tickets under this program had a higher cost.
VDR suggests that other airlines follow Lufthansa’s example and initially provide passengers with an additional payment option at check-in to test the pros and cons of such a system before its widespread implementation