Govt should indemnify Malev customers, says Democratic Coalition

The Democratic Coalition (DK) has called on the government to indemnify holders of valid tickets for flights of Malev, Hungary's recently shut down national air carrier, party director Laszlo Varju said in a statement sent to MTI on Sunday.

The government's "irresponsible moves have destroyed Malev and driven the company into bankruptcy," the statement said.

When Malev cancelled all its flights on February 3, some 750,000 reservations had been made, Varju said in the statement. He argued that the government's allocation of 2 billion forints (EUR 6.9m) to pay compensation to those who held tickets for the next 3 days and who were planning to return to Hungary on Malev flights before the end of February would only cover about 16 percent of all possible claims. Those that paid with a credit card are entitled for compensation from their banks but passengers who do not belong to either of these groups could "hardly expect any indemnification," Varju said.

Spokeswoman of the ruling Fidesz party Gabriella Selmeczi said it was the Socialists' responsibility that the "most botched-up privatisation transaction of the past two decades" forced Malev to go down a route that resulted in a collapse.