EU member states and airlines did not fully protect passenger rights during the Covid-19 pandemic, with travellers often losing money due to cancelled flights, or because they were not informed about their rights to be reimbursed, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors.
At the same time, while airlines were being bailed out with billions of euro of public money, no member state linked the receipt of that money with the obligation to reimburse passengers, the report found.
As such, airlines were effectively using passengers as banks, by keeping their money on their books during the crisis, according to one source close to the report.