How Much Air Moldova Owes Passengers and Where the Money Is

Air Moldova owes its customers about 180 million lei. More than 28,000 people are waiting for their money. People should know that “the money is blocked in the accounts of this company”, Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Andrei Spînu said on the program Secretele Puterii on Jurnal TV. “More than 28 thousand people have to get their money back from Air Moldova, which entered the process of debt restructuring. I want everyone to know that the money is blocked in the accounts of this company. The civil aviation authority filed a lawsuit so that those who bought tickets with an automatic bankcard can get their money back. The refund procedure has not started yet, as there is no court decision”, Infrastructure Minister Andrei Spînu said. Recently, PAS MPs Radu Marian and Sergiu Lazarencu, in cooperation with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development and the Civil Aviation Authority, initiated a draft that aims at helping passengers who bought air tickets but their flight was cancelled. Thanks to the bill, which amends the Insolvency Act, passengers who bought tickets will be among the first to get their money back when the company goes bankrupt. Until now, passengers were 7th in the priority order for debt repayment. Air Moldova started cancelling flights from March 2023, and from May suspended all flights and ticket sales. The official reason given by the company was the lack of aircraft. In August 2023, the Civil Aviation Authority suspended Air Moldova’s Air Operator Certificate (AOC). The Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization, Dumitru Alaiba, said at the time that Air Moldova ended up selling tickets at an unrealistic price for flights that it probably knew would not take place.