Tourists who arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport on April 18 to board an iFly flight to China were denied boarding.
According to iFly, on April 18, dozens of Russians who were not on the passenger list checked in for flight F7-9897 from St. Petersburg (Pulkovo) to Haikou (China). Their tickets were invalid.
The tourists had vouchers from tour operators Good Time, Planeta Travel, and TUI Russia. According to sources, the suppliers in turn purchased these tickets from Sanya Wealth, which purchased a block of seats on the flight from the main booking company, Tempus Tour.
According to tour operators, tourists will receive full compensation for their cancelled vacations soon.
According to the TUI Russia press service, as soon as the company learned of the cancellation of its tourists' flights from St. Petersburg to Hainan, the decision to refund 1,001 TP3T was made immediately. According to TUI, 25 of the company's clients were affected by this situation.
Other tour operators are currently refraining from making official comments. However, according to informed sources, suppliers have promised tourists full refunds for their tour packages within the next 10 days.
Rostourism also issued an official statement regarding the situation with Russian tourists who were unable to fly to Hainan. Here's the agency's statement in full:
Due to the cancellation of a tourist flight from St. Petersburg to Haikou (China) on April 18, 2019, the Federal Tourism Agency informs:
Rostourism immediately requested information about the current situation from iFly and tour operators to clarify the situation and the measures they are taking to resolve it. Official inquiries have also been sent to them.
According to currently available information, more than 130 Russian tourists scheduled to fly to Hainan Island were unable to board their flights due to their absence from the flight's passenger list.
However, according to information from tour operators, the Chinese host country has fully paid for the tourist product. In the current situation, tour operators will fully fulfill their obligations under the terms of their contracts for the sale of the tourist product.
The Federal Tourism Agency is monitoring the situation and is in constant contact with Rosaviatsiya, the airline, and tour operators. A corresponding appeal has been sent to the Chinese authorities.
Rostourism is investigating all the circumstances of the incident. A preliminary analysis of the situation suggests that it could have been caused by a multi-layered chain of intermediaries between tour operators, hosts, and airlines.
The Federal Tourism Agency would like to remind tourists that, in accordance with Russian legislation, if a consumer travels outside of Russia, the provider (tour operator or travel agent) is required to provide the consumer with a ticket confirming transportation (including charter) to and from the destination no later than 24 hours before the start of the trip. The tour operator that created the tourist product and purchased the relevant services from third parties is liable to the tourist for failure to comply with this requirement.
Source: trn-news.ru
