Row erupts between Discover the World and Iceland Express
Discover the World has stopped selling flights on Iceland Express to its customers, claiming the airline has caused it a "series of difficulties".
The operator, which claims to be the largest to Iceland, complained that between January and August of this year half the inclusive tour passengers booked on Iceland Express services experienced cancellation of either their outbound or return flights, or schedule changes.
“In addition an indeterminate, but nevertheless significant number, experienced serious delays. This resulted in an enormous number of complaints,” said customer service manager Paula Byrne.
She said the operator will now only work with Icelandair "with whom we have a very good working relationship and have no such issues".
Discover the World said it is so concerned about the airline’s services, it has sent a letter to the Icelandic Minister of Tourism.
In it, managing director Clive Stacey called for the an investigation into the "highly questionable practices of this airline".
He said the attitude of the management of Iceland Express has been "cavalier" and was "impacting negatively on the good name of Icelandic tourism".
When contacted by TravelMole, Matthias Imsland, CEO of Iceland Express, claimed it had been the airline’s decision to part ways.
“Discover the World owes the airline a considerable amount of money and has in the company’s opinion demonstrated unprofessional conduct. While the debts remain unpaid the company is unwilling to continue its cooperation with DTW,” he said.
“I would like to assure passengers that all flights are scheduled to operate a normal service. The volcanic eruption did cause disruption to Iceland Express’ flight schedule earlier in the year, which resulted in some cancellations/changes to the schedule in May and June. However, this is no longer the case.”
The matter came to light when TravelMole.com reported that Iceland Express was adding extra services from the UK (see earlier story).
Discover the World contacted TravelMole to air its concerns.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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