MEPs target airline ads hidden costs

European airlines will no longer be able to advertise misleading low cost fares after MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday approved an EU wide clamp-down on hidden costs, reports the Guardian.

The paper adds that all advertised fares, on websites or in brochures, will by the end of the year have to include all taxes, fees and charges, including those applied to security or fuel. Any optional items such as travel insurance will also have to clearly set out as opt-ins for consumers.

The rules, already approved by the EU member states national are specifically aimed at the websites of low-cost carriers which often insist on booking only via the internet.

The new rules follow a campaign by the European commission which warned that currently one in three consumers are being misled when buying plane tickets, reports the Telegraph.

The Times quotes a spokesman for Ryanair responding to the move as saying: "We believe this is a rubbish measure because we are already applying this.”

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