New flyers’ rights take effect
Airline passengers are now able to claim greater compensation for delayed and cancelled flights – but the industry reaction has been lukewarm.
As from today, if passengers are not allowed to board a flight because it has been overbooked, they will be entitled to a minimum of £175 compensation. The maximum will be £420, for flights longer than 3,500 kilometres.
If a particular flight is cancelled, the carrier must offer passengers a refund and a free flight home – or another means of getting to their final destination.
Regarding delays, if a flight is more than two hours late, airlines must provide meals, accommodation and ways to communicate; delays of more than five hours mean passengers are entitled to a full refund and a free flight back to the departure point.
Airlines were not impressed; the Daily Mail quotes Easyjet chief executive Ray Webster as saying “What started as a good piece of legislation to prevent traditional airlines bumping off passengers through overbooking has become a bad piece of legislation. It will cause unnecessary confusion and conflict between airlines and their customers.”
However, passengers’ groups and watchdogs were more enthusiastic.
Emma Harrison, a campaigner for Which?, said: “Airlines have often failed to offer travellers the sums to which they are entitled. Now that the law extends passengers’ rights to compensation when an airline ‘bumps’ or seriously delays them, airlines won’t be able to pull the wool over their customers’ eyes anymore.
“For years, airlines have washed their hands of responsibility for making sure passengers get to their destinations on time; it’s common knowledge that airlines over-book flights as a matter of course. It’s great to see the European Commission standing up for passengers and refusing to be intimidated by the legal action from the International Air Transport Association.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
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