Commisson’s information on air passenger rights incorrect

The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has called on the European Commission to correct inaccurate and misleading information contained in leaflets, posters and a video presentation on air passenger rights. This follows a complaint to the Ombudsman from two airline associations. 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. Although the Ombudsman did not find all the complainants’ allegations to be justified, he identified certain inaccurate and misleading statements in the information material and asked the Commission to correct them. One of the statements in the leaflets and posters reads: “If you are denied boarding or your flight is cancelled, the airline operating your flight must offer you financial compensation and assistance”. The Ombudsman considers that this sentence wrongly suggests that compensation has to be paid in every case where a flight is cancelled. The Ombudsman also agrees with the complainants that a statement in the video that “Immediate and automatic compensation will be paid for delays, cancellations and overbooking” is inaccurate as compensation never has to be paid in respect of delay, and where compensation is payable for cancellation and overbooking, it does not have to be paid immediately. The Ombudsman accepts that the information material provided by the Commission could not be expected to be complete, but considers that the information given must be accurate. The Ombudsman therefore asks the Commission to correct as soon as possible the inaccurate and misleading statements identified in his inquiry.Source: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/release/en/2007-01-10.htm(Originally posted by Michael Wukoschitz)

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