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Trading Standards steps up attacks on airlines
The Trading Standards Institute is increasing the pressure on airlines and travel companies to show all-inclusive prices on it websites.
Principal trading standards officer Bruce Treloar said the practice of advertising headline flight prices exclusive of taxes breached the Consumer Protection Act of 1987 by giving customers ‘a misleading price indication’.
Treloar said Ryanair, which advertises prices from 99p and both easyJet and British Airways, which quote prices exclusive of tax were all breaking the law. But he added any travel company which does not quote the full fare clearly as part of the main price was also advertising illegally.
TSI has joined forces with the Office of Fair Trading, the Air Transport Users’ Council, Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services and the Advertising Standards Authority to produce a new guidance paper detailing the legal requirements for all sales of flights on websites.
“Airlines are misleading customers,” said Treloar. “People get drawn to these websites because they claim to charge a low fare and may not go elsewhere to get a proper comparison of prices.”
Treloar said he would spend a short period of time, thought to be the next few months, compiling evidence of airlines which are contravening the Consumer Protection Act and pass it on to the OFT.
However, a spokeswoman for the OFT said it could only take action if it received complaints from consumers.
“We have collaborated to produce guidance notes to help businesses,” said the spokeswoman. “But we can only act on complaints received.”
Airlines have made a staunch defence of their position and pledged to continue with their sales tactics.
A spokesman for Ryanair, which recently announced record first quarter profits, up 28 per cent to £38.2m, said: “It’s nonsense to say people are misled. Our bookings are up 28 per cent (in the three months to June) and people understand our prices. They are aware of the full fare before they book and they wouldn’t do so if they were unhappy.”
A spokesman for easyJet said: “We’ve been selling fares like this since 1998 and have taken 60m bookings. Some 97 per cent of bookings come via the Internet and not a single person has taken us to court over misleading pricing. Research shows most people make a decision on the final price rather than the initial price.”
A spokesman for British Airways said: “On our website we disclose the additional taxes, fees and charges on the initial booking page and then again when we give the total final price before the customer decides whether they wish to progress with the booking or not.”
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