The European Commission published revised guidance on air passenger rights this week along with guidelines on the rights of those with disabilities or reduced mobility ahead of the peak summer travel period.
The revisions take account of rulings by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) since 2016 and add new guidelines on passengers’ rights during periods of ‘massive travel disruption’.
The EC has published regular ‘interpretative guidelines’ on air passengers’ rights since 2016.
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The Commission noted that as well as clarifying these rights, the guidelines aim to raise awareness of the rights which also apply to passengers in the UK, having been incorporated into UK law following Britain’s departure from the EU.
Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for climate action who is responsible for transport, said: “The EU is the only area in the world where passengers are protected by a full set of rights.
“With [these] guidelines we continue to support national authorities and transport operators, especially when it comes to rights of people with disabilities and with reduced mobility.”
Publication of the guidelines came alongside release of a Eurobarometer survey which suggests a majority of EU consumers feel they lack sufficient information on passenger rights although awareness has increased since a survey five years ago.
Survey respondents were most likely to feel well informed about passenger rights for rail travel (33%), followed by air (30%), coach (27%) and ship and ferry (16%).
However, three out of four air passengers (75%) said they had received pre-travel information on their rights.
Satisfaction with the handling of ‘significant ‘disruptions was also highest among air passengers at 66%, 12 points up on 2019, followed by ship and ferry passengers (53%), rail passengers 52%, and coach passengers 50%.
The survey found 84% of respondents requesting assistance for people with disabilities or reduced mobility were satisfied with the response.
But it found the use of single tickets for ‘multimodal’ journeys – an area the EC is keen to encourage – remains limited at 11%, unchanged on 2019, with rail-coach journeys the most common combination and air-rail the second most common.
One third (32%) of those using a single ticket for multimodal travel had faced ‘issues’, with 11% missing a connection.
The survey was conducted across the 27 EU member states in January and February this year.
Hoekstra noted the survey showed “citizens are not always fully aware of their rights” and said: “The Commission proposed last November that providers inform passengers of their rights and address rights for multimodal journeys.
“I ask the European Parliament and the Council to swiftly agree on these new rules on multimodal journeys.”