Airlines Face Tougher Penalties for Losing Luggage
European transport commissioner to investigate compensation levels for unlucky passengers
Compensation for the millions of airline passengers who lose their bags every year could be overhauled by the European Union.
The European transport commissioner, Antonio Tajani, launched the investigation after the Air Transport Users Council (AUC), a British watchdog, said that some passengers were left "seriously out of pocket" by the current compensation regime.
More than 42m bags went missing at airports around the world in 2007, up from 34m the previous year. The AUC said in a report this week that airlines were often reluctant to meet compensation claims in full – prompting an angry response from Brussels today.
"Safeguarding passenger rights is an essential component of European transport policy," said Tajani. "The European commission wants to be close to its citizens, providing them with solutions to the problems they encounter. It is for this reason that I have decided to act immediately so as to shed some light on these alarming figures which, if they were to be confirmed, would call for a strong political intervention."
If the investigation found the guidelines were ineffective, the commission said, it would tighten EU regulation on lost bags, underpinned by the Montreal convention for air passengers.
According to examples uncovered by the AUC report, one passenger claimed £1,120 for a lost bag but received compensation of £79.34 because she did not have the receipts to back up her claim. The AUC said more than 1m pieces of luggage were irretrievably lost in 2007.
The European transport commissioner, Antonio Tajani, launched the investigation after the Air Transport Users Council (AUC), a British watchdog, said that some passengers were left "seriously out of pocket" by the current compensation regime.
More than 42m bags went missing at airports around the world in 2007, up from 34m the previous year. The AUC said in a report this week that airlines were often reluctant to meet compensation claims in full – prompting an angry response from Brussels today.
"Safeguarding passenger rights is an essential component of European transport policy," said Tajani. "The European commission wants to be close to its citizens, providing them with solutions to the problems they encounter. It is for this reason that I have decided to act immediately so as to shed some light on these alarming figures which, if they were to be confirmed, would call for a strong political intervention."
If the investigation found the guidelines were ineffective, the commission said, it would tighten EU regulation on lost bags, underpinned by the Montreal convention for air passengers.
According to examples uncovered by the AUC report, one passenger claimed £1,120 for a lost bag but received compensation of £79.34 because she did not have the receipts to back up her claim. The AUC said more than 1m pieces of luggage were irretrievably lost in 2007.
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