Pressure mounts over 'unfair' airline charges

CONSUMER INVESTIGATIONS:CONSUMER AUTHORITIES in Ireland and the EU are set to renew their investigations into airlines with the publication of two reports into alleged unfair practices.

Ireland and Norway are leading a 10-country investigation of the taxes and charges that airlines levy on their passengers. In particular, consumer authorities are looking at how these charges compare with the fees airlines actually pay to airports to use their facilities.

In a separate report, the National Consumer Agency is investigating the way airlines refund these taxes and charges to passengers who don’t fly. The airlines collect the charges on behalf of the Government, but as they do not apply if a passenger doesn’t fly, they should be refunded. In practice, this doesn’t happen. Some airlines refuse to refund the money; others charge an administrative fee that often exceeds the refund.

“We are determined to get the issue of refundability sorted in cases where passengers don’t travel,” said John Shine of the National Consumer Agency.

Aer Lingus says the charges are “fully refundable”, subject to a €20 administration fee and applications being made within a month. It isn’t immediately obvious from its website how to apply. Ryanair also charges €20 for administration and says it won’t make a refund if the amount due is less than this fee.

The Irish-Norwegian investigation will focus on consumer groups’ long-standing claim that some carriers charge passengers airport and other fees that bear no relation to the fees they themselves pay. Often, the charges are aggregated together on airline websites, and it is difficult if not impossible for a customer to distinguish between the different levies.

Dublin Airport Authority charges airlines €7.39 per passenger, a figure likely to rise by 96c next year; this would apply to both incoming and outgoing passengers. But a passenger buying a typical regular fare to fly from Dublin to Edinburgh on Ryanair will pay taxes and charges of €33.37 on the way out, broken down into €27.38 of “taxes and fees” and €5.99 of “insurance/wheelchair levy/ aviation insurance”. The return journey incurs taxes and charges of €31.42: €25.43 in “taxes and fees” and €5.99 in “insurance/wheelchair levy/ aviation insurance”.

No taxes and charges are levied on many Ryanair special-offer tickets; a spokesman said the airline absorbs the costs for these flights.

The same journey on Aer Lingus incurs taxes and charges of €33.71 on the way out and €23.32 on the return leg. No further breakdown is provided.

The latest investigations follow several years of intense scrutiny of airline websites by the European Commission. Although many carriers have responded to the pressure by making their websites more transparent and showing inclusive ticket prices, EU consumer officials are frustrated that airlines have since introduced a raft of new charges – such as those for baggage, check-in and handling – which greatly add to the base price of a flight.

“Every time we legislate to control one set of charges they invent another,” said a spokeswoman for the EU consumer affairs commissioner, Meglena Kuneva.