By Martin Banks - 7th July 2007
The European ombudsman has welcomed Brussels plans to correct inaccurate and misleading information on air passenger rights.
This follows the Strasbourg-based official’s investigation into complaints from two airline associations, the International Air Carrier Association and European Regions Airline Association.
They criticised the information provided by the commission on the rights of travellers to compensation and assistance in the event of denied boarding, cancellation of flights or long delays.
The commission informed the ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, that, in line with his recommendations, it had withdrawn the leaflets, poster, fact-sheet and video presentation in question from its website.
Furthermore, it said it would replace the erroneous information material.
One of the statements in the leaflets and posters read, “If you are denied boarding or your flight is cancelled, the airline operating your flight must offer you financial compensation and assistance.”
Diamandouros considered that this sentence wrongly suggested that compensation had to be paid in every case where a flight is cancelled.
“While I accept that the commission could not be expected to provide complete information in these format, I believe the information given must be accurate,” he said.
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