After generating some headlines during the volcanic ash crisis, the regulation on air passenger rights made news again on 29 June, as European Commission Vice-President in charge of Transport, Siim Kallas launched a new campaign on air passenger rights. The launch took place at Brussels Airport and coincided with the increased traffic of the summer holiday season.
The Regulation on air passenger rights came into effect in February 2005. It establishes common rules on compensation and assistance to air passengers in certain situations. While the Regulation does not impact directly upon airports, the legislation applies to passengers departing from airports situated within the territory of a Member State and to all those arriving into such airports from a third country where the flight is operated by a European carrier.
Regulation 261/2004 provides for minimum rights for passengers when: denied boarding, flight is cancelled or delayed. It is applicable to all types of flights (scheduled, charter, domestic) within the EU, from the EU to third countries, flights from third countries to a destination within the EU if the carrier concerned is a Community carrier. Passengers have the right to information (covering all incidents), right to care (all incidents), right to financial compensation (under certain conditions) and right to refund of the ticket or re-routing (all incidents).
At the launch of a new campaign on Air Passenger rights (l to r): Arnaud Feist, CEO, Brussels Airport; Meglena Kuneva, former European Commissioner for Consumer Protection; Etienne Schouppe, Belgian State Secretary for Mobility; and Siim Kallas, European Commission Vice President in charge of Transport.
Addressing the media present at the campaign launch, Commissioner Kallas explained the idea is to make it as easy as possible for passengers to travel, knowing that they have rights and how to get support in claiming them if they need to. “There can never be too much information. We hope that with eye-catching posters in airports across Europe, and using leaflets and online information in all EU languages we can reach out to millions of passengers travelling this summer and in the months to come,” he said.
This air passenger rights legislation has been evaluated recently. It may be subject to revision, pending the European Commission’s communication on this, which is expected before the end of the year.
In related news, other regulations on the Commissioner’s agenda at this time include:
Passengers with Reduced Mobility (Regulation 1107/2006):
This regulation – which is of significant relevance to airports – has recently been evaluated (it came into effect in 2008) and no major revision is currently envisaged. The European Commission is expected to make a statement on this at the beginning of next year.
Mishandled Luggage Liability (Regulation 889/2002):
This regulation does not directly impact on airports, given its focus specifically on baggage-handling between the airline and ground handling companies, but in certain cases, airports can be affected nonetheless. A review and possible revision of this legislation is on the cards for 2011.
