Busy Christmas break at VAB: More medical interventions than last year | local

The VAB had to carry out the most medical interventions in Austria, followed by Spain and France. Figures also appear in Thailand, Egypt and the United States. While poor snow quality due to mild winter weather last Christmas holiday led to many cases of skiing and snowboarding accidents, this number has now remained roughly the same (+3%).

The number of calls for technical faults at the VAB remained at the 2022-2023 Christmas holiday level. Electric vehicle problems increased and accounted for 2.6 percent of all technical interventions, more than double compared to the previous Christmas holiday (1 percent). The organization experienced fewer problems in France and Germany, while the number of files increased in Austria and the Netherlands. Tire and wheel failure continues to top the world rankings.

Nearly one in five now seeks online breakdown assistance from VAB. However, according to the organization, Belgians are still in a hurry to reach for their mobile phones, while with the online application they can avoid long waiting times on the phone and go straight to dispatch.

Europ Assistance records the same number of medical ski files in the Alps at the end of the Christmas holidays compared to the same period last year. The number of medical filings for solar vacationers increased slightly (by 2 percent). Regarding European destinations, most Europ Assistance medical files have been opened in Spain, including the Canary Islands, France and Italy. For distant destinations, the organization mentions Thailand, Morocco and the United States.

Europ Assistance said that from December 22, 2023 to Thursday, January 4, 2024, the number of technical interventions abroad for travel to and from ski resorts decreased by 4 percent compared to the same period last year, mainly due to good road conditions.

​For “non-ski destinations”, the number of technical interventions abroad increased slightly compared to the previous Christmas holiday. The files were opened mainly in France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain.