Brussels, 10/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 9 July, the European Parliament adopted at second reading and without amendments the report by Arunas Degutis (ALDE, Lithuania) on the proposal for a regulation aimed at modernising common rules for exploitation of air transport services. The result of a compromise between the EP and Council, the regulation simplifies the financial conditions to be met by the airline companies, bans all tariff discrimination between travellers on the basis of their place of residency and of their nationality, and imposes strict transparency of air tickets on all air carriers (including low cost airlines) (see EUROPE 9556). Passengers will have the right to full information on the real price of the ticket and any additional taxes and charges whether they buy their tickets from travel agents or from the internet, MEPs said, voting during their last session before the summer break. “Tomorrow's vote will make sure that as early as December passengers will be able to see how much their air trip will cost them before rather than after purchasing a ticket. No longer will people be tricked by flashy rates which later prove to be only a fraction of the actual cost”, Graham Watson (ALDE, UK) states in a press release published on Tuesday. In a joint release the European Travel Agents and Tour Operators' Associations (ECTAA) and the Guild of European Business Travel Agents (GEBTA) nonetheless state that “further discriminations in access to fares, notably based on the distribution channel” should be abolished and that this problem should be dealt with during the current revision of the legislation on computerised reservation systems. They also call on the European Commission to “initiate specific legislation on this issue, which is becoming increasingly important with the alarming fuel prices affecting airline costs”. (A.By./transl.jl)