European Commission regulators are opening a consultation aimed at tightening the financial protection for passengers opting to put together their own holiday packages.
The consultation will consider extending the basic cover provided by a 1990 directive on package travel, to include consumers who create their own package deals, often through Internet sites.
Such "dynamic" package arrangements, says the Commission, frequently do not fall within the European Union's protection laws, but a majority of travellers nevertheless believe they are covered.
The consultation will also consider a broad extension of basic insolvency protection for travellers, even to standalone airline tickets.
Six main areas will be examined with a view to the Commission's putting forward proposals towards the end of next year.
These areas will include the overall scope of the 1990 directive, insolvency protection, and information provided to consumers as well as matters relating to liability and contract revision.
The consultation will also look at whether a broad 'travel protection label' should be introduced to indicate which travel products are protected.
European consumer commissioner Meglena Kuneva says she is "particularly concerned" over the issue of insolvency, following several recent airline failures which have left thousands of passengers stranded.
"We need tough protection that gives all consumers booking a package holiday the peace of mind they deserve, and we need a level playing field so businesses compete on equal terms," she says.
While the 1990 directive provided a degree of protection for passengers purchasing package holidays from specialist travel companies, the Commission says this is "no longer suited" to a market in which travellers are increasingly creating tailored packages of their own.
Consultation on the changes opens today and will run to 7 February 2010.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
