Brussels, 26/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 25 November, the European Parliament adopted a resolution by the groups EPP, S&D, ALDE and Greens/EFA on compensation to passengers in the event of an airline going bankrupt. The Parliament calls on the European Commission to envisage the possibility of presenting, by 1 July 2010, a legislative proposal which, on one hand, would aim to set in place the payment of passenger compensation in the event of airline failure and, on the other, would define the administrative and financial arrangements, including the principle of mutual responsibility for passengers of all airlines having seats available and going to the same destination as the failed airline, which would make it possible to repatriate passengers blocked in foreign airports. They also call on the Commission to suggest, during review of the directive on travel, holidays and tours (90/314/EEC), an extension providing for the repatriation or redirection of passengers concerned, and to extend these measures not only to failed airlines but also to those which have broken off their operations, thus entailing similar inconvenience for passengers. They also call on the Commission to establish a system to ensure the rapid deployment of an aircraft solicited by the state in order to repatriate blocked passengers.
Low-cost airlines restate their opposition.
The European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) has restated its opposition to this kind of solution, suggesting that measures be set in place to allow the protection of passengers before, rather than after, bankruptcy. In a position adopted the day before the vote, ELFAA said its members already provide assistance to passengers of bankrupt companies on a voluntary basis. It considers that the legislative bodies should better exercise their air passenger control responsibility, when they show signs of insolvency (failure to pay airport charges and taxes), making it an obligation for them to present their state of finance on an exact and regular basis. It points out that, during the electronic purchase of tickets, airlines suggest insurance cover. Most of these policies include scheduled airline failure insurance (SAFI) as part of the insured risks as a conscious opt-in choice by the consumer. Most consumers decide not to avail themselves of this insurance. “It would be perverse to, on the one hand, insist that customers be able to exercise conscious choice over the purchase of such cover, while, on the other, considering imposing an across-the-board compulsory levy on the 600 million passengers a year, travelling from European airports, when the percentage, which might be exposed to the risk of airline failure, is decimal dust”, ELFAA states in its position paper. (A.By./transl.jl)