Alan George/BRUSSELS
Europe's airlines and airports have finalised voluntary codes of practice which will form key elements in a wider European Union (EU) project to strengthen air passenger rights.
The codes will be formally revealed at a joint conference of the European Commission (EC) and the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) in Lisbon next month, to be attended by EC Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio who has been pushing the passenger rights issue.
The 14-point airline code is a more precise version of a voluntary code agreed by US airlines in 1999. Airlines will undertake, for example, to offer the lowest fare available through direct outlets and to honour the agreed fare after payment, while passengers will be told of known delays, cancellations and diversions. In addition, passengers facing delays on and off the aircraft will be given adequate assistance, and baggage will be delivered on time and measures taken to speed-up check-in. Airlines are also committed to fewer passengers being denied boarding and to improved response to passenger complaints.
A final draft of the airport code requires airports to display EC charts and leaflets on passenger rights; to assist passengers during periods of significant delays or disruption; to institute effective trolley management systems; to ensure the presence of adequate information desks; and to publish passenger satisfaction reports, making them available to relevant national or international bodies.
The guidelines were heralded in an EC policy document on passenger rights issued in June. They were drafted by the European division of the Airports Council International, the Association of European Airlines, the European Regions Airline Association and the International Air Carriers Association, with co-ordination by an ECAC/EU task force.
The industry organisations will urge their members to subscribe to the codes, but some may decide not to: "I predict that the main airlines and airports, handling the lion's share of the traffic, will adopt the commitments but not necessarily all of the smaller ones," says a Brussels source.
The voluntary codes will be accompanied by new EC legislation on airline contracts and denied boarding and cancellation.
Source: Flight International
