Parliament votes to boost airline travellers` rights, privacy
Baku, March 30 (AZERTAC). The European Parliament voted over the objections of the airline industry to strengthen rights of passengers who face flight cancellations or other travel interruptions. The resolution, adopted two days after a parliamentary panel bowed to US pressure and approved a deal to store records of travellers` personal data, also says passengers should have access to view the information and be informed when it is accessed.
British MEP Keith Taylor (Greens), who was responsible for the resolution, said he expects the EU executive to incorporate the recommendations in its revamp of the air passenger rights legislation. The vote to adopt the document was 509-20 with 53 abstentions.
The law - formally known as Regulation EC/261 - guarantees compensation for flight cancellations and delays that affect all EU carriers and flights originating in the Union. The resolution also calls on the Commission to ensure that each airport has personnel on hand to assist stranded passenger, provides complain forms in all EU languages, and that airlines disclose the full costs of tickets in their advertising - including extra fees or baggage charges. But the document dilutes an earlier draft that would provide compensation guarantees for passengers left stranded when airlines go bankrupt or are grounded by financial troubles.
The passenger rights regulation is one of the world`s most stringent and has long been heralded as a victory for consumers. The regulation is intended to compensate passengers when airlines overbook or cancel flights, allowing exceptions in “extraordinary circumstances” without defining what those are.
Parliament`s resolution also calls for giving travelers the right to know when their private details - or passenger name record - are accessed. The EU unsuccessfully opposed American demands to maintain records on travelers for up to 15 years as a counter-terrorism measure. Another provision in the resolution calls for passengers to be repatriated when their planes are cancelled because of an airline`s financial woes, but falls short of Taylor`s original resolution that called for travel compensation guarantees as well as costs for a return flight home.
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