AHIGH Court judge is set to rule on what ticket conditions scheduled airlines can impose on passengers.
The Air Transport Users’ Council has persuaded the Office of Fair Trading to threaten airlines with High Court action if regulations are not eased.
AUC director-general Philip Martin said the council took the action after the International Air Transport Association and the European Commission failed to act.
He said: “We want uniform conditions that give consumers a fair crack of the whip.”
The AUC wants wide-ranging changes, including tickets to be made transferable; compensation for delayed flights; and airlines being made responsible for statements by agents when tickets are booked.
IATA – which drew up the international model that airlines follow – has two weeks to respond to the OFT ruling and five weeks to bring in changes.
An IATA spokesman said the model was not legally binding and it was up to individual countries to modify the rules.
“If the UK wants to affect the way airlines interline, it will be of great disadvantage to passengers,” said the spokesman.