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Disgraceful opt out of EU crackdown on air ticket rip-off by Ireland

Issued : Friday 9 May, 2008

Labour Transport Spokesperson Tommy Broughan T.D. has welcomed the publication of the mid term report on the EU's investigation into misleading advertising and unfair practices on airline ticket selling websites, "Can You Trust Air Ticket Selling Sites". But he has described as disappointing the decision by Ireland not to participate in the 2007 EU wide surveillance and enforcement internet sweep on tickets selling websites.

"The new EU report alleges that there are "serious and persistent consumer problems" in the whole airline industry. The European Commission slammed the fact that 1 in 3 consumers who book a ticket online are being "ripped off or misled and confused." Enforcement action has been necessary against 1 in 3 websites surveyed for breaching consumer law. 58% of the sites examined were found to have misleading pricing, 49% had irregularities in contract terms and 15% had problems with the non-availability of advertised offers.

"It is therefore extremely disappointing that Ireland chose not to participate in this internet sweep. The reason given is that "by the time of the sweep the National Consumer Agency (NCA) had been investigating several aspects of the Irish airline sector for some time." The EU report also notes that the "NCA wrote to the airlines in January 2008 and is presently examining the responses from all three airlines." I welcome the NCA's initiative. However, I believe Irish air travellers would have greatly welcomed our inclusion in the EU-wide investigation given the serious issues of consumer protection that still need to be addressed in the Irish airline industry.

"In the last number of weeks, for example, I have been contacted by a number of people who had booked and paid for flights with the low cost Polish airline Centralwings. The Shannon-Katowice route was subsequently abruptly cancelled and the passengers involved have been trying for weeks without success to contact Centralwings and get their rightful refund.

"The NCA must now work together with Transport Minister Noel Dempsey to ensure that consumer law is comprehensively enforced in the airline sector. I also again asked Minister Dempsey in Dáil Éireann yesterday to urgently initiate an investigation in conjunction with the NCA and the Commission on Aviation Regulation into the new extra charges on airline passengers and if necessary, to consider legislation specifically to protect air travellers."