The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) has paid compensation to consumers who had bought a package holiday from Oy Air Finland Ltd, based on the package holiday security it had lodged with FCCA . For those who had booked only a flight or a hotel with Air Finland, the liquidation process is still underway. The receivables of these consumers have been automatically taken into account in the bankruptcy proceedings, and no action is required from them at the moment.
The compensation paid to Air Finland’s package tour buyers is roughly consistent with FCCA’s original decision, i.e. approximately 69.5 per cent. The payment can be identified from the name “Kilpailu- ja kuluttajavirasto” (the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority) that appears on the message field of the bank transfer.
Consumers who have claimed compensation for a package holiday but who have not received any payment should contact the FCCA, by tel. +358 (0)29 505 3193 or by e-mail to valmismatkat@kkv.fi.
Receivables of those who had only bought a flight are under liquidation
Since the Package Travel Act and the related securities only apply to package tours, compensation from the security lodged with FCCA will be paid only to consumers who had bought a package holiday.
Those who had only bought flight tickets from Air Finland were instructed to apply for compensation from the bankruptcy estate within the time limit set by the estate. The liquidation of the bankruptcy estate is still underway, and the compensation payment schedule remains unknown. The bankruptcy estate will inform customers of this separately. Further information is available from the public receiver, e-mail konkurssiasiat@borenius.com.
A long process comes to an end
The Air Finland airline went bankrupt in the summer of 2012. The FCCA (then the Finnish Consumer Agency) handled some 3,000 claims related to the bankruptcy and issued decisions on them in late 2012. Some Air Finland customers were dissatisfied with the decisions and filed appeals with the administrative courts. Appeals against some of the rulings given by the administrative courts in the summer of 2014 were placed before the Supreme Administrative Court.
In February 2015, the Supreme Administrative Court rejected the appeals concerning compensation claims, after which compensation payments to those claimants who had bought a package holiday could finally begin.