European Consumer Centre

Are you experiencing troubles with any EU, Norway or Iceland vendor?

SEND YOUR CASE

Air carrier Malév stopped its operations

 

 

On Friday February 3, 2012, the air carrier Malév stopped its operations. The financial situation of MALÉV has been very bad lately and even though the Management tried to preserve the liquidity of the company, the stoppage of all flights was decided. The bankruptcy manager was already appointed.

What to do next?

I. Help on the grounds of the government decree 5/2012

 

According to the press release published today on MALEV website (only in Hungarian http://www.malev.hu/) passengers from countries other than Hungary can receive information from the Costumer Service by calling: +36-802-11-11 how to reach their final destination.

II. WHAT TO DO

Passengers of selected flights can demand reimbursement on the grounds of a Government Decree from January 31, 2011. According to the Government Decree, in case if MALEV stops starting its flights, the Hungarian State shall provide via MALÉV and an intermediary organisation (not known at the moment) compensation and assistance only for those passengers
– who have valid MALEV ticket for a flight on the day of stoppage of flights, or for flights within 3 calendar days following the day of stoppage of flights

– who already travelled to the final destination with the outbound flight of MALEV prior to or on the day of stoppage of flights, and their ticket for the return flight is valid until 29.02.2012.

According to the Government Decree the assistance to be provided for the abovementioned passengers of MALÉV shall include:
– rerouting of passengers

– offering alternative transport opportunities or reimbursing of costs of such alternative transport opportunities

– refreshments and meals in reasonable proportion to the waiting time

– accommodation if overnight stay becomes necessary

– transport between hotel and airport

According to the latest information on the Malév website, passengers should submit their claims through the website (http://igeny.malev.com). If the passengers click on the English version,they will be able to fill out the request form and send their claim for compensation.

 

All passengers who  purchased  their ticket in a travel agency for cash or by bank transfer, should submit your refund claim to the travel agency by 2 March. No claim arrived later can be accepted.

Consumers whose cases are not touched by the Government Decree need to send their potential demands to the Malev bankruptcy manager until March 26, 2012, to the folowing address:

Hitelintézeti Felszámoló Nonprofit Kft
1071 Budapest
Damjanich U. 11-15
Hungary

Due to the fact that the airline has gone bankrupt, an administrative fee must now be paid in order for the claim to be handled by the bankruptcy manager. The fee is 1 % of the requested amount, but never less than 5000 HUF (appr. 17,36 EUR). ECC encourages consumers to add the administrative cost and postage costs to their total claims towards the company.

The fee should be paid to the following account:

IBAN: HU91 1003 2000 0148 3013 2400 0004
SWIFT: MANE HU HB

ECC recommends consumers to tag their payments with the number of the bankruptcy process:”9.Fpk.01-12-000895/15. sz.”

According to the same notification from the bankruptcy manager, the demand itself and all attached documents must be sent in Hungarian. ECC Sweden has, in cooperation with the ECC office of Hungary, constructed a template for the claim letter (attached below). When you write your information in the template, the information will be automatically copied to the Hungarian part. You can also save the template to your computer after you’ve completed it.

Have in mind that a claim sent to the bankruptcy manager must contain the following:

  • e-ticket
  • booking reference
  • account/bank information to the consumer
  • copy of identification (passport, national ID-card)
  • Copy of receipt for paid registration fee

 

ECC will provide updated information on its website. Passengers are advised to follow also www.malev.com.