Inaccurate and misleading information from the Commission on the rights of air passengers
12.1.2007
WRITTEN QUESTION P-0140/07
by Marc Tarabella (PSE)
to the Commission
On 10 January 2007, the European Ombudsman, in reply to a complaint from two European airline associations, confirmed the obvious need for an urgent review of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004[1] on the rights of air passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights.
The Commission has in fact been asked to correct by 31 March 2007 ‘inaccurate and misleading information contained in leaflets, posters and a video presentation’ which it supplied to those concerned.
This latest problem has come on top of the thousands of complaints lodged by passengers for failure to apply or misapplication of the regulation by airline companies.
What urgent measures will the Commission take before the summer holidays in order to:
- —review and clarify the regulation so as to avoid a recurrence of chaotic situations in which passengers are left to their own devices, with no financial cover or payment of compensation?
- —inform both airline companies and passengers in terms that are clear and not misleading, of their rights and of the simplest, quickest and cheapest means of claiming such rights?
- [1] OJ L 46, 17.2.2004, p. 1.
OJ C 293, 05/12/2007