European airlines, which are waiting in line for state aid, want to use another source of interest-free loans – from their customers.

Trapped carriers are seeking to suspend the European Union (EU) rules requiring refunds on cancellation of reservations and instead issue vouchers to non-pandemic clients for a future period.

Demand reimbursements would be a great additional source of money for many airlines who already need state aid to survive the lasting decline in travel.

Consumer organizations say some major airlines are complying with reimbursement rules. The organizations, however, condemn the attempts to force consumers to lend them cash.

The European Commission has rejected calls for industry to ease EU rules on cancellation of payments. Airlines claim they cannot comply with the rules at this time. “In the face of a cash flow disaster, many airlines are able to offer vouchers instead of immediate refunds for canceled flights”, commented their lobby group Airlines for Europe (A4E).

Prolonged shutdowns would restore people to 3.5 billion EUR in Lufthansa’s second-quarter revenue. For British Airways the amount is up to 3 million EUR, for Air France-KLM it is also about 3 billion EUR, for easyJet and Ryanair the amount is in the range of 760-770 million EUR.

A spokesman for Lufthansa said on Friday that the reimbursement remains “in principle possible” but not “within the normal timeframe”.

EasyJet and British Airways are among the airlines that find it difficult to meet customer refund requests. They deactivate them and only offer vouchers. Air France-KLM, like Lufthansa, tells customers that it no longer offers immediate reimbursement. Instead, a one-year customer loan is issued and can only be repaid at the end of that period. The reason is a large number of requests for money back.

The EU has already eased the rules on slots and compensation and will offer airlines more assistance, Transport Commissioner Adina-Ioana Valean told. “People have to get their money back if that’s what they want”, she adds.