חוק שירותי תעופה (פיצוי וסיוע בשל ביטול טיסה או שינוי בתנאיה) (נגיף הקורונה החדש – הוראת שעה – תיקון) (תיקון מס' 2), התשפ"א-2020Law Air Services (Compensation and Assistance for Flight Cancellation or Change of Conditions) (Novel Coronavirus - temporary provision - amendment) (Amendment No. 2), 2020 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The Aviation Services Law (Compensation and Assistance for Flight Cancellation or Change of Conditions) (Novel Coronavirus – Temporary Provision – Amendment) (Amendment No. 2), 2020, was passed in second and third reading on 14 December 2020. The Aviation Services Law (Compensation and Assistance for Flight Cancellation or Change of Conditions), 2012 (hereinafter – the Law), requires airlines to provide passengers with benefits due to flight cancellation or change of conditions for reasons not dependent on the passenger. The spread of the coronavirus pandemic led to a severe and unprecedented crisis in the aviation industry, to an almost complete halt of air traffic to and from Israel, and to a cash-flow crisis for airlines. In July 2020, the Aviation Services Law (Compensation and Assistance for Flight Cancellation or Change of Conditions) (Novel Coronavirus – Temporary Provision – Amendment), 2020 (hereinafter – the temporary provision), established provisions intended to assist this industry, and in particular the Israeli airlines that were severely affected by the crisis, in coping with it, as a temporary provision limited in time. The temporary provision extended the period set in the Law for the refund of the amount paid for a flight ticket to an eligible passenger (hereinafter – the date of receiving the monetary refund from the airline for the passenger). The temporary provision applies to every flight to and from Israel, as well as to a domestic flight, whose departure date is from 1 March 2020 onward. In addition, the temporary provision applies to flights whose planned departure date was before 1 March 2020, if they were to or from destinations subject to a quarantine obligation due to the coronavirus. Subsequently, the period set in the temporary provision was extended to 1 October 2020 instead of to 14 August 2020. The Aviation Services Law (Compensation and Assistance for Flight Cancellation or Change of Conditions) (Novel Coronavirus – Temporary Provision – Amendment) (Amendment No. 2), 2020, shortens the date for receiving the monetary refund from the airline or organizer for the passenger, so that the passenger will receive their money no later than 30 days from the flight date stated on the cancelled flight ticket. It was also established that a travel agent who received the monetary refund from the airline for the passenger must return the money to the passenger within 15 business days from the day they received the money from the airline or organizer, and if they received such payment before 15 December 2020, they must return it to the passenger within 15 business days from that date. It was further established that a travel agent may deduct from such refund payment an additional amount for a service provided by the travel agent to the passenger, but only if such additional payment was agreed upon with the passenger at the time of purchasing the flight ticket.

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