The creation of a single market for air travel followed by the boom of competitive offers by low cost and traditional carriers has, unavoidably, led to a surge in the amount of air passengers using European airlines. Airline routes offered in the EU have increased by 170 per cent since 1993 and EU airline travel presently involves 700 million passengers annually. One can only welcome a wider and better choice of travel opportunities, particularly when recalling the prohibitive price of air travel that most consumers were confronted with in the not so distant past. However, increased use of these services also means that more attention should be paid to the safeguarding of air passengers’ rights as consumers.

Last November, a joint EU enforcement action was carried out in 15 Member States with respect to airline ticket selling websites.

Participation in this action was on a voluntary basis and also included Maltese cooperation through the Consumer and Competition Division within the Ministry for Competitiveness and Communication. This action led to the inspection of 447 sites, of which 227 were identified for possible breaches of consumer protection laws.

Such irregularities include showing the price of the ticket without indicating airport taxes and additional fees such as handling charges as well as lack of information about the rights and procedures of cancellation, amongst others. National authorities have to address this matter by mid-March 2008 by seeking clarification from the companies concerned or by ensuring that practices are changed. Those companies that fail to cooperate could face legal action leading to fines or closure of their websites.The Commission intends to publish a list of those companies that would have failed to comply up to abovementioned deadline.

Another initiative is the recent report on Air Passenger Complaints published by the European Consumer Centre Network. Air passenger complaints in 2006 increased by 96 per cent when compared to the previous year. Luggage problems represented almost one third of the complaints received, whilst cancellations and delays account for 26 per cent and 16 per cent respectively. When presenting the results of this report last month, EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said that these findings demonstrate that EU legislation on air passenger rights was not fully respected. Overall, the report makes 34 recommendations.

The Commission has already begun working with airlines and National Enforcement Bodies (NEBs) in order to clarify responsibilities and obligations. It is important to note that NEBs are the first contact point for passengers who feel that their rights have not been respected. The Commission is also analysing whether the national measures in place sufficiently enforce the air passengers rights established by Community law.

Another envisaged initiative could be the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution bodies in order to avoid resorting to lengthy and costly legal procedures when attempting to settle disputes between airlines and passengers. All airlines shall also be obliged to provide their contact details to complain via telephone, email and post. Lastly, a standard EU Air Passenger Complaint Form shall be made available to all passengers using EU airlines.

The improvement of the services provided by the airline industry has now established itself as one of the key areas of concern with respect to consumer affairs, particularly, since this form of transport is becoming increasingly accessible to millions of travellers. The activities undertaken in 2007 have already set the ball rolling and consumers can only augur that the EU’s activities in this field will truly lead to a reduction in prices not in quality.

Henri Caruana is a Research Analyst at Forum Malta fl-Ewropa