Flybe slams OFT over ticket price transparency
Flybe has slammed the Office of Fair Trading for failing to enforce guidelines over debit card fees.
In February, the OFT began to put significant pressure on airlines to remove debit card charges by early summer.
But Flybe says some airlines are continuing to flout the guidelines and the OFT is not taking action.
Pointing the finger at Aer Lingus and easyJet, Flybe MD Andrew Strong said: "It’s a total shambles. Some of Europe’s largest airlines, with the most powerful IT departments, are being allowed to continue to blatantly abuse the process.
"Consumers are being duped into thinking that there is some sort of level playing field when comparing ticket prices. Media reports that airlines have become ‘transparent’ in their ticket pricing are false. They ignore the fact that several leading airlines are still continuing to charge for debit card payments."
In April, Flybe became the first airline to stop charging debit card fees to customers booking flights.
Flybe claims that Aer Lingus agreed to drop debit card fees from October 1 but continues to charge customers an additional £6 per one way sector (checked by Flybe on October 8).
It is also upset that easyJet has been given until December by the OFT to make the change, 10 months after the undertakings were intended to be signed.
A spokeswoman for easyJet said it had complied with the guidelines and on December 1 "will be making further enhancements to ensure our admin fee is included in all grid prices making our pricing even more transparent".
Flybe said it has made its concerns known to the OFT and has also shared information with consumer magazine Which?.
The OFT got tough on 12 airlines over debit card fees following a ‘super-complaint’ from Which?. See previous story.
by Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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