As the number of infections in Mallorca also recently exceeded the threshold of 50 infections per week and per 100,000 inhabitants set by the RKI, the entire Balearic Islands were categorised as a risk area in addition to the Spanish mainland. This is despite the fact that the main focus is clearly on Mallorca. For German charter guests, this now means that when they return to Germany, they must either take a coronavirus test on arrival or go directly into 14-day quarantine.
This development has hit the charter industry hard, as after the disastrous start to the season due to the lockdown, the booking situation for August to early September had been quite good, which gave local fleet operators hope. "It's a disaster for us," says Dirk Kadach from 1st Class Yachts, which operates a base in Can Pastilla. "After the easing of restrictions, business got off to a good start and we had practically full utilisation of the yachts for the next ten weeks." Now cancellations are raining down, as other local fleet operators also confirmed when asked by YACHT.
The big problem now is how to deal with these cancellations, as was the case at the beginning of the Corona crisis: The bookings are not covered by the package travel law, so the travel warning does not mean an automatic right to a free refund - because in most cases yacht charters take place under the much more customer-unfriendly rental law.
For 1st class yachts, they are trying to move forward: "As far as the booking situation allows, we are offering customers the option of rebooking to Croatia or the Baltic Sea or postponing the cruise to 2021," says Dirk Kadach. Other providers, who do not wish to be named, are less willing to compromise in view of the difficult situation. Since "only" a travel warning applies, but not a lockdown on site, they insist that customers must sail or otherwise bear the cancellation costs under the charter contract. Experience shows that this is often 100 per cent just before the trip. Because the fact is: you can sail on site without any restrictions, you just have to accept the test or quarantine obligation on your return.
Of course, it is more difficult if the customer also wants to travel but the airline cancels the flights. Although Lufthansa has already announced that it will continue to fly to Mallorca, it remains to be seen whether this will continue if demand fails to materialise.
Customers who have booked a charter from Mallorca this year now have no choice but to contact their fleet operator and discuss a solution - or fly and come to terms with the corona test on their return.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
