CONSUMER watchdogs have promised to clamp down on
airlines advertising misleading prices on the Internet.
Trading Standards, the Advertising Standards
Authority, Office of Fair Trading, Air Transport Users Council and Local
Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (Lacos) have jointly produced
a guidance paper to flag up airlines’ legal obligations and force rogue players
to comply.
Low-cost airlines such as Ryanair – which advertises
‘one million seats at 99p’ on its website when the final price is far higher
once taxes are included – are likely to be pulled up by the authorities.
The paper will target all airlines which advertise
prices without including mandatory fees such as airport taxes, insurance
levies, credit card charges and handling fees. All fees should be included in
the quoted fare under the Consumer Protection Act.
Trading Standards lead officer for travel Bruce
Treloar said if advertised prices were to exclude taxes then the extra costs
would have to be shown next to the fare in the same font size – immediately
lessening the impact of a cheap fare. “Often, airline websites do not tell customers
that prices will be subject to charges,” he said.
He argued there is an unlevel playing field in the
industry with operators already including fixed charges.
Lacos will co-ordinate any resulting enforcement
action by Trading Standards services, and airline compliance is likely to be
reviewed in a month’s time. “If we can produce evidence of non-compliance then
we can persuade the Office of Fair Trading to take action. We need evidence to
show a breach of the law and we have to give airlines a chance to comply,”
added Treloar.
At the ABTA Convention last year, Treloar
pledged a “purge” on low-cost carriers’ pricing to bring it into line with the
rest of the industry (Travel Weekly November 10 2003).
Airlines face multi-million dollar bill to boost US
security
AIRLINES could be forced to fork out millions of
dollars to help meet the cost of tightening US border security.
Carriers have been warned they will be expected to pay
“a fair share of the costs” for advanced airport baggage and passenger-screening
equipment which can sniff out explosives because the industry will “derive
substantial benefits” from their introduction.
Airlines claim they have already foot the bill for
tighter security.
A Delta spokeswoman said: “These costs should not be
the airlines’ responsibility but fall under national defence, to be funded by
the government.”
The claim is just one of the shock findings in the
9/11 Commission report, released last week. The commission was set up to
identify how the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001 were able to happen and
how similar atrocities can be avoided.
US airlines, already saddled with huge debt, currently
foot a $3.8 billion annual bill for direct and indirect security costs – $2.6
billion of which goes to Homeland Security.
The commission claimed the US had potentially wasted
$4.8 billion by bumping up existing security at airports rather than
overhauling the whole system. It suggested a new biometric entry-exit screening
system is needed for all travellers – costing a further $10 billion. The report
cited evidence the present security measures are hitting travel to the US, with
visa applications down 32% in 2003. It admits “major vulnerabilities still
exist in cargo and general aviation security”, and warned terrorists may be
targeting cruise ships where the “opportunities to do harm is great or greater”
than other modes of transport.
On Sunday the US Department of Homeland Security
raised the threat level in three areas of the country from Code Yellow to Code
Orange – just weeks before the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The most severe warning is Code Red.
But operators say terror concerns are being
counteracted by the weak dollar. They claim US demand is up – even on the
September 11 anniversary – despite new threats of terrorist attacks on some of
the country’s most important commercial buildings.
The three areas are the financial services sectors in
New York City, northern New Jersey and Washington DC. Ironically, the warning
came in the same week the Statue of Liberty was reopened amid stringent security.
Operators said US sales showed the public remained
resilient despite the renewed alerts. Cosmos is sending 30 agents to Florida on
a fam trip, leaving on September 11. Head of sales Andy Washington said:
“Demand has picked up. Load factors are healthy on September 11.”
Premier Holidays product director Rob Haynes said:
“The US is in demand because of the weak dollar and people believe security is
as good as it can get.”
A spokeswoman for British Airways said trade was
strong for leisure passengers, although business travel was quiet.
Visit USA chairman Matt Bates said there has been
“double digit” growth this year, with the elevated alert status unlikely to
have a significant impact on visitor levels. However, terrorism concerns have
pushed up oil prices to an all-time high.