Europarlementariërs eisen duidelijkheid prijzen vliegtickets over (en)

MEPs have decided that airline companies should advertise the full price of flight tickets at any point, particularly for internet bookings.

The European Parliament adopted the requirement on Wednesday (11 July) as part of a bulk of legislative changes in the EU's aviation market rules spearheaded by the Lithuanian liberal MEP Arunas Degutis.

Mr Degutis' report suggested that air passengers should be treated like any other consumers in terms of the information about a final price of the products they are considering.

EU deputies argued they want to bring an end to the practice associated mainly with low-cost carriers of attracting customers by highlighting the fares without airport, tax and other charges.

In online booking this means passengers only find out the actual price after they have spent time clicking though several pages and filling in information necessary for the purchase of the ticket.

Under the new rules, air fares which are "addressed directly or indirectly to the travelling public" must include all applicable taxes, non-avoidable charges, surcharges and fees known at the time of publication.

The EU legislature also requires any security charges which are added to air fares to be clearly identified.

Whether introduced by member states as security taxes or by air carriers as extra charges to cover their increased costs for security on board or at the airport, they should be clearly indicated and shown separately on the ticket, MEPs decided.

If approved by member states, the changes could come into force by the end of this year.