5th Feb 2014 13:23
Strasbourg, France (Alliance News) - Airline passengers in the EU should be granted further rights, the bloc's parliament demanded Wednesday, despite a warning that its initiatives could backfire.
The EU already has rules in place to protect travellers, but there are concerns that airlines often make use of legal loopholes and grey areas, prompting passengers to take their complaints to court.
In a vote Wednesday, the parliament approved its position on passenger rights reforms, which now have to be negotiated with EU governments.
"The current situation is extremely unsatisfactory," lawmaker Georges Bach, who is shepherding the file through the parliament, said during a pre-vote debate in Strasbourg, France. "This new version will considerably improve the situation for several million citizens."
The European Parliament would like to see enhanced compensation for flight delays and clearer definitions of the extraordinary circumstances that preclude compensation, along with the abolition of one-handbag rules and lost return flights for no-show passengers.
The demands go further than reform proposals brought forward last year by the EU's executive, the European Commission.
Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas warned the legislature on Wednesday that its changes go too far, saying that requiring compensation after a delay of only three hours for trips of less than 2,500 kilometres encourages airlines to cancel flights.
He also argued against the list on extraordinary circumstances because it "might be too rigid."
"We should remember that the main objective of this revision is ... better enforcement of passenger rights, with simpler complaint-handling for the benefits of travellers and airlines alike," Kallas told parliamentarians in Strasbourg.
"We have looked for the balance between the passenger rights and also airlines' interests, really because airlines are operating in a very difficult environment at this stage and they are not the enemies of passengers," he added.
But Bach rejected the commissioner's arguments, noting that only 2% of airline passengers get compensation, which "doesn't even appear" on carriers' balance sheets.
Copyright dpa
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