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17/02/2005
Air travellers gain compensation rights under EU law
Airline passengers will be able to claim more compensation for cancelled or delayed flights, under new European Union (EU) legislation.
Passengers will be able to claim between 250 and 600 euros, depending on the length of the flight, under the new rules, which come into effect today. Previously, passengers could only claim between 150 and 300 euros if they were prevented from boarding a flight, due to overbooking.
The new compensation package has been introduced in order to stop airlines from deliberately over-booking flights. Passengers will also be able to claim compensation if a flight is cancelled or delayed for over two hours.
All EU-based airlines will have to adhere to the new rules, which will apply to all scheduled and charter flights.
However, the new legislation has been criticised by some airlines and there have been fears that higher compensation will lead to price increases.
The rules have been criticised by low-cost airline, easyJet, who issued a statement describing the legislation as "a piece of bad law that is unfairly biased against the airline industry and thus damaging".
The budget flight operator expressed concerns that the compensation was at a flat rate, rather than proportional to the fare. easyJet claimed that their present average fare of £42 one way, would amount to compensation starting at £172, under the new legislation. The company said that this would lead to an increase of costs for passengers.
The Chief Executive of easyJet, Ray Webster, said: "What started as a good piece of legislation to prevent traditional airlines bumping off passengers through overbooking has become a bad piece of legislation and will cause unnecessary confusion and conflict between airlines and their customers".
(KMcA/SP)
Passengers will be able to claim between 250 and 600 euros, depending on the length of the flight, under the new rules, which come into effect today. Previously, passengers could only claim between 150 and 300 euros if they were prevented from boarding a flight, due to overbooking.
The new compensation package has been introduced in order to stop airlines from deliberately over-booking flights. Passengers will also be able to claim compensation if a flight is cancelled or delayed for over two hours.
All EU-based airlines will have to adhere to the new rules, which will apply to all scheduled and charter flights.
However, the new legislation has been criticised by some airlines and there have been fears that higher compensation will lead to price increases.
The rules have been criticised by low-cost airline, easyJet, who issued a statement describing the legislation as "a piece of bad law that is unfairly biased against the airline industry and thus damaging".
The budget flight operator expressed concerns that the compensation was at a flat rate, rather than proportional to the fare. easyJet claimed that their present average fare of £42 one way, would amount to compensation starting at £172, under the new legislation. The company said that this would lead to an increase of costs for passengers.
The Chief Executive of easyJet, Ray Webster, said: "What started as a good piece of legislation to prevent traditional airlines bumping off passengers through overbooking has become a bad piece of legislation and will cause unnecessary confusion and conflict between airlines and their customers".
(KMcA/SP)
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