Leading car rental company Avis Europe has announced several measures it is implementing across countries affected by the current air travel disruption caused by the volcanic cloud, to help ease the burden for many travellers.

For those who have booked car rental with Avis Europe:

  * Avis will not charge a cancellation fee where car rental bookings are not fulfilled due to disrupted travel caused by the volcanic cloud – therefore customers do not need to worry about calling to cancel their reservation
  * Any car rental bookings that have been pre-paid for and are due to be collected during the affected period will be fully reimbursed.  Customers can claim their refunds by contacting their local Avis customer service department by email at [email protected] or telephone 0844 544 6666.

To help customers needing transport during the affected period:

  * Avis Europe is now offering one-way car rental for the hire cost plus the normal standard fee (this small fee covers the cost of relocating the car to make it available to other customers)
  * Alternatively, Avis Europe is also offering the repatriation of a rental vehicle in some countries at a greatly reduced cost.  This will allow a customer who may be stranded in one country to drive to an Avis location near their home, to allow another renter to drive the car back to its original destination.
  * The one-way car rental and the repatriation of a vehicle are available in the following countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria.

Wolfgang Neumann, Group Commercial Director at Avis Europe, comments:

“Avis is committed to fulfilling the travel needs of customers affected by the current disruption to air travel caused by the volcanic cloud.  The measures we have implemented are designed to make it easier for any customer – business or leisure – who is either worried about getting to a certain destination, or being reimbursed for a cancelled booking.

“Full details can be found at www.avis.co.uk or by calling 0844 581 8181.  Please note our call centres are experiencing a high volume of calls – if you call us we will make sure we answer your call as soon as we can.”