Air Transport: More rights for passengers travelling by air

The number of passengers travelling by air is constantly increasing, by 4.5% annually, according to the European Commission. With 26,000 flights in Europe's skies every day, it is necessary to adopt Regulations allowing for more effective protection for passenger rights. Today, the European Parliament adopted a Report which calls for simpler and more understandable information about the rights of passengers in all key stages of travel, as well as free of charge change of data on tickets and help for parents travelling with children.

The Report covered the revision of two Regulations - establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, cancellation or delay of flights, and on the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air.

"On the occasion of this review, we were able to draw the European Commission's attention to a number of irregularities occurring in European airports, with the aim of solving passengers' problems and introducing new proposals. We should take care of all passengers travelling by air in Europe to ensure better, safer, cheaper and honest travel", said Arthur Zasada MEP, responsible for the dossier for the EPP Group.

According to Artur Zasada, the most important issues for passengers in this Report are the opportunity to correct obvious mistakes made by purchasing or even cancelling a ticket within two hours after purchase, prohibition of the collection by the airlines of undue fees when making a credit card purchase, and enforcement of powers to parents travelling with young children.

MEPs also advocated the obligation to deal with all passenger complaints during the period of up to two months, and the creation of a central website about air passengers' rights to be set up by the European Commission and available in all official EU languages.

"The new rules will contribute to improving the situation of European passengers. The European Commission has already announced its consistency with the position of the European Parliament on the majority of the proposals", concluded Artur Zasada.