MEPs call for better protection of airline passengers

MEPs today voted in favour of improved rights for airline passengers. In a non-binding resolution, MEPs called on airlines to provide better information and faster assistance to stranded passengers.

They asked the European Commission to draw up rules on the help and compensation available to passengers whose flights have been cancelled or delayed, or whose luggage has been delayed or lost.

Keith Taylor, a British Green MEP who drafted the resolution, said that more needed to be done to give passengers “a fair deal and to ensure broader rights for all travellers”. He said that the definitions of the terms “extraordinary circumstances” and “cancellation” in current EU legislation required clarification.

The resolution also calls on the Commission to develop a standard complaints form in all official EU languages.

The resolution was adopted in connection with the Commission’s review of two regulations on the matter – one setting up common rules on compensation and assistance for passengers who have been denied boarding or whose flights have been cancelled or delayed, and one on the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility travelling by plane.