UK Parliament’s Transport Committee has launched a wide-ranging inquiry into passengers’ experience of air travel. It will cover every stage of the journey from buying tickets to travel links to and from airports, arrangements for baggage and the comfort of seating on aircraft.The inquiry is also looking into how easy it is to get compensation from airlines when things go wrong, and whether international conventions about passengers’ entitlements are enforced adequately. The members of Parliament are also asking whether there is any difference in the general experiences of budget airline customers compared with those who use full-service scheduled carriers.Ryanair is one of the low-cost airlines that have been repeatedly criticized by consumer groups for offering low headline fares then loading the true cost with numerous service charges, including most recently a charge for checking in baggage. In its turn, Ryanair criticizes the UK government for loading air travel costs with taxes. “Ryanair has far better things to do than waste time at a House of Commons Committee which is itself wasting time talking about passengers’ attitudes to air travel at a time when Gordon Brown is busy stealing an additional £1 billion from UK passengers and visitors this year.”Source: travelindustryreview.com. Read more here.
