Brussels, 14/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - The “sweep” investigation was opened in autumn 2007 by the European Commission with a view to putting an end to unfair practices by airlines which sell tickets online by misleading customers as to the final cost of the ticket and the conditions of purchase (EUROPE 9658 and 9543). The investigation is now over and has proven to be a success. Most airlines incriminated have made a move to clean up their act in order to bring their website into line with Community legislation on consumers' rights. This was highlighted by the final result of the very first European-wide investment carried out in March 2009 as a complementary “health check” of the sector, using a 14-point checklist drawn up in agreement with the aviation sector, and via anonymous ticket purchases made by independent investigators with 67 major airlines. It was with undisguised pleasure but without complacency that Meglena Kuneva, European Consumer Protection Commissioner, presented on Thursday 14 May the encouraging results of this 18-month long work of investigation.
“All of this work is about tackling the plague of hidden charges, pre-ticked boxes and nasty surprises in the small print of airline websites (…). Fifty-two of the 70 websites recently surveyed have either been given a complete 'bill of health' by the initial study or, in the follow-up consultation, the airline companies immediately responded with clear commitments to correct. This is very good news for consumers! We are not at all complacent - but we are getting there”, Ms Kuneva said.
Ms Kuneva was delighted that 16 companies had immediately responded by saying that they had already taken correcting measures or planned to adopt them without delay. “I will mention some important airlines where there have been significant moves: Ryanair, EasyJet, Wizz air, Austrian Airlines”, she said, going on to add that Air France, KLM and British Airways have now undertaken to do what is necessary. For the bad news, the commissioner announced that there are still a dozen airlines giving the Commission real cause for concern as they have either not deigned to answer the notification sent to them or their answers have been insufficient. Such airlines include: Aéroflot, Air Baltic, Mayer, Nord-West, Olympic Airways, Royal Air Maroc and Turin Jet. There are still too many ticket selling websites that do not yet fully abide by consumer legislation.
In the “sweep” operation launched in 2007 with the assistance of the 27 national authorities for controlling implementation of legislation, enforcement actions have now been completed in 85% of cases. Out of the 400 websites examined, 137 gave rise to an inquiry, and for 115 sites out of the 137 checked, correcting measures have been taken.
Meglena Kuneva said this first ever pan European investigation shows that control of legislative application can be truly effective and have concrete results. It should, she said, now be followed up with a sectoral agreement, adding that they will continue to closely follow developments in the sector. The European Commission will, in June, present a communication on the control and application of the legislation to strengthen work by the network of national authorities to which the results of the health check have been forwarded. Henrik ?e, Danish mediator for consumers and Danish representative within the network of 27 national regulation agencies, underlined how much interest there was in a common action by the 27 member states, as a guarantee of greater effectiveness. The Commission's involvement in the last phase of the procedure, he says, puts sufficient pressure on for substantial results to ensure that consumers can have confidence in these online purchasing websites.
In a press release, Antonio Tajani, Transport Commissioner, states: “Applying full price transparency is an obligation under the air services regulation. It is a duty for airlines to impose high standards across the industry. It is our responsibility to ensure that all players respect the same rules. This is of first and foremost importance for the consumer who wants to compare prices across airlines and make a real choice”.
The airlines that meet all the standards of the health check, giving a commitment to maintain their webpages at this level are: Air Malta, Blue 1, bmi, bmibaby, Estonian Air, Finnair, Iberia, Malmö Aviation, SAS, Sata Air Açores, Sata International, Spanair, TAP, Tarom, TUfly, and Virgin Atlantic.
The airlines providing commitments that issues raised by the health check have already been addressed or will be addressed shortly to ensure that all standards are fully met are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Aer Arann, Aer Lingus, Air Berlin, Air Europa, Air One, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Binter Canarias, Blue Air, Brussels Airlines, Bulgaria Air, Carpatair, Cimber Sterling, Condor, Cyprus Airways, Cyprus Turkish Airlines, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, EasyJet, Finncomm Airlines, Flybe, LOT, Lufthansa, Luxair, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Meridiana Air, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Pegasus Airlines, Ryanair, Skyways, Swiss, transavia.com, VLM Airlines and Wizz Air. (A.N./transl.jl)