THE PACKAGE TRAVEL ACT AND THE COVID19 PANDEMIC 1.2 Cancellation by the traveler due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances According to Article 3(12) of the PTD,”unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” (UEC) means a situation beyond the control of the party who invokes such a situation and the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. According to the recitals (recital 31), significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of a serious disease at the travel destination is a situation which may be classified as an UEC. The Swedish act does not include a definition of UEC, since the legislator did not find this necessary7. According to Chapter 3 Section 1 of the PTA, the traveler has the right to terminate the package travel contract before the start of the package. If the traveler terminates the contract, the organizer has the right to a reasonable cancellation fee, provided this is specified in the package travel contract. The organiser is however not entitled to a cancellation fee if the package is significantly affected by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances at the destination or its immediate vicinity or the transport of the traveler to the destination. This section implements Articles 12.1 and 12.2 of the PTD. During the spread of Covid19 in the spring of 2020, countries imposed different restrictions to reduce the further spread of the virus. Restrictions such as lock down, quarantine, closed borders, curfews etc. was decided by the national authorities, often with very short notice. The competent authorities in most states further decided to issue travel advices against travel to other countries. The travel advices and restrictions imposed, resulted in mass cancellation of packages that were to take place during the spring and early summer of 2020. Packages were cancelled by the travelers, due to fear of catching the virus, or by organisers that were not able to perform the package due to restrictions. For many of the cancelled packages, question arose whether the traveler was entitled to a refund or not. The organisers often claimed that the traveler was not entitled to a refund, since the Covid19-pandemic was out of the organiser’s control. Since the packages often were cancelled close to departure, the organisers were not entitled refunds from the different service providers, i.e. airlines, hotels etc. It became clear that there are no legislations that imposes obligations for service providers to refund the price paid when a service is cancelled due to UEC. In many cases the organisers therefore charged the traveler with a cancellation fee when the package was cancelled by the traveler. 7 Prop. 2017/18:225, page 45-46
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