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Egypt Holidays > Travel News > The era of £1 flights is officially over, after the EU demanded an end to hidden taxes and charges.
The era of £1 flights is officially over, after the EU demanded an end to hidden taxes and charges. | | 10th July 2008 |
Airlines will now be forced to include all airport taxes, fees and surcharges in the basic ticket price advertised to customers.
The legislation, which will come into force by the end of the year, aims to end misleading promotions offering unbelievably low fares.
The new rules follow a crusade by the European Commission which warned one in three consumers are still being misled when buying plane tickets.
Last year the commission found 137 travel websites were breaking existing EU consumer rules by deliberately misleading customers over price and fare availability.
A European Parliament report said air passengers have as much right as any other consumers to clear and comprehensive information about the price they actually have to pay. The new rules had already been agreed by EU transport ministers but required the vote of MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
Labour MEP Robert Evans said: "The days when airline advertisements can be a con are over."
Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope said: "This adds much needed transparency for passengers. It means that website prices and brochure prices will become open and clear. It is the right approach to ensure that price rises are not hidden any longer."
The new rules state airlines must provide "comprehensive" ticket price information to all customers, including those booking online.
Fares must include "all applicable taxes, non-avoidable charges, surcharges and fees known at the time of publication". Additional price supplements, such as charges for luggage or travel insurance, must also be "communicated in a clear, transparent and unambiguous way at the start of any booking process and their acceptance by the consumer must be on an 'opt-in' basis".
Last week easyJet, Europe's second-largest no-frills airline, reported a 19.5 per cent increase in travellers in June to 4.1 million. The airline carried nearly 38m passengers last year.
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