WRITTEN QUESTION E-2394/98

by María Sornosa Martínez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(27 July 1998)

Subject: Unjustified and unfair treatment of flight passengers and fraudulent flight contracts issued by the Iberia airline

Flight passengers have been feeling the effects of a constant and rapid deterioration in the services rendered by airlines and airport management bodies. Although the current situation is largely the result of the growth in air transport, the deregulation of that sector and the increased number of carriers, the fact remains that the legislation in force must be complied with and the existing Regulation (EEC) 295/91(1) on a denied-boarding compensation system updated and extended, in order to tackle the serious problems encountered at airports with regard to information provision, the failure to display prominent and legible notices on passengers' rights, the acceptance of liability and respect for consumer rights.

The international flight contracts on offer from various airlines - Iberia being a prominent case in point - are alarming because they leave passengers entirely helpless in unforeseen circumstances and fail to make the airline liable for functional or organisational breakdowns. These contracts are legally bound by the Warsaw Convention (the Convention on the Unification of Certain Rules relating to International Carriage by Air, signed in Warsaw on 12 October 1929) or, where appropriate and indicated in the contracts, by its amended version signed in The Hague on 28 September 1955. Paragraph 9 of the said contracts stipulates the following: "Times shown in timetables or elsewhere are not guaranteed and form no part of this contract. (...) Schedules are subject to change without notice. The carrier assumes no responsibility for making connections". The chaotic scenes witnessed at Barajas airport in the second half of June after large numbers of passengers were left stranded and more than 200 flights cancelled, support the aforementioned criticisms.

Given these abuses of consumer rights:

1. Does the Commission intend to formulate a Community policy on air transport establishing a regulation on passenger protection?

2. Will the Commission look into the case of Iberia in order to clarify whether or not the existing EU regulation has been complied with and remedy the current total lack of protection of the passenger's interests?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(15 October 1998)

The Commission understands and shares the concerns of the Honourable Member that actual departing and arrival times of airlines often deviate from the scheduled times, and that the number of cancellations seems to be increasing. However, these unfortunate problems do not amount to any violation of Community law as it stands, and it is consequently not possible for the Commission to take any action in the case of any airline on such matters.

The Commission has however, been examining the possibility of strengthening the protection of air travellers under Community law. It therefore launched a comprehensive study to assess the conditions included in air transport contracts on the basis of the consumers interests. The Commission is currently considering the recommendations of that study in the light of the competition rules and existing Community consumer law. The question of possible new initiatives from the Community side in this area can only be considered and decided upon after when this evaluation is finalised. The points made by the Honourable Member will certainly be considered in the further process.

In relation to the Honourable Member's suggestion to update the existing Regulation on denied-boarding compensation, the Commission submitted a proposal(2) in January 1998, which it hopes will improve the position of passengers. The main objectives of the proposal are to improve information to passengers; increase compensation limits; adapt the Regulation to new developments in the air transport market (e.g. new forms of ticketing, code-sharing); and to provide for the regulation to cover seat-only charters. Were there to be any infringements of the current Regulation, these would, as infringements of directly applicable Community law, be subject to remedies before national courts.

(1) OJ L 36, 8.2.1991, p. 5.

(2) COM(98) 41.