AIR PASSENGER RIGHTS : MEP RIQUET WANTS TO BAN OVERBOOKING.

The surprise guest for revision of the regulation on air passenger rights may be overbooking, the practice by which airlines sell tickets in excess of the number of seats on the aircraft, and which sometimes results in passengers being denied boarding. To date, the practice has not been declared illegal in the EU and the European Commission did not propose to address the matter in its revision of Regulation 261/2004 on air passenger rights, presented in March. But an MEP, Dominique Riquet (EPP, France), plans to do so. During an airing of views in the Committee on Transport (TRAN), on 29 May, Riquet stated that he would try to introduce "extremely binding measures" on the subject.

"I think this is a criminal offence," he explained. "Airlines sell something that has already been sold. This is a practice that must not only be prohibited but also penalised."

Overbooking is a way for airlines to increase their earnings - selling the same seat several times - by counting on the fact that certain passengers will cancel their flight or not show up at boarding time. When too many passengers do show up, the regulation currently obliges them to ask volunteers to give up their seat. These volunteers are then entitled to financial compensation and appropriate assistance (meal or accommodation while awaiting another flight). For Riquet, further measures are needed. "This is a breach of law that is tolerated for reasons unknown to me. No economic operators other than airlines have the right to do that."

His position is certain to incense airlines, which already feared seeing MEPs tighten up the Commission's requirements on financial compensation for delayed flights. At present, the regulation requires airlines to pay compensation only for cancellations, but the...