Airlines are to make scheduled flight contracts significantly fairer to travellers after intervention from the director general of fair trading.
John Bridgman challenged 30 airline contract terms as potentially unfair and unenforceable. These included terms covering transferability of tickets and the rescheduling of flights. The way is now clear for airlines to adopt the new terms, with British Airways understood to be planning to change their consumer contracts next month.
Bridgman said this week: "Under the old terms, consumers who purchased non-refundable tickets (such as Apex) and were prevented from travelling by circumstances beyond their control would have lost all the money they had paid for their ticket.
"The new terms entitle them to a credit note that could be used either by them or by another person. That can be more valuable than a right to transfer a ticket to someone else. Return tickets can no longer be cancelled by airlines if the outward ticket is not used from reasons beyond the consumer's control.
"Many of us have suffered delays to flights. The new terms make it clear that we will be entitled to a refund if there is a significant delay which is the airline's fault and the operator is unable to provide an alternative flight."
The new terms include:
* Anyone prevented from travelling by force-majeur -circumstances beyond their control - will be entitled to a credit for any non-refundable travel. This can be used to buy a flight for another person.
* If a traveller warns an airline that a part of a ticket cannot be used for reasons beyond his or her control, no extra charge will be made. The Office of Fair Trading had challenged the right to cancel onward reservations if the outward portion of a ticket was not used.
* Passengers should if possible be told of a flight time change. Passengers will also have the right to a refund if there is a significant change in the time of a flight and the airline is not able to book an acceptable alternative flight.
* Airlines can no longer evade responsibility for what their agents have agreed.
In a separate development, Ryanair has agreed to drop contract terms that limited its responsibility for travellers' luggage. It has also agreed to remove notices disclaiming responsibility from its check-in desks.
Following intervention by the OFT, the airline will no longer operate a blanket refusal to take responsibility for oversized or over-packed baggage. Nor will it refuse to pay out if any protruding parts on luggage, such as wheels or handles, are damaged or lost in transit.
Ryanair now only refuses to accept responsibility for unsuitably packed, perishable, damaged or fragile baggage and for minor damage to the outside of luggage caused by normal wear and tear.
Bridgman said: "These two pieces of work will ensure that airlines' contracts are soon much fairer and that tens of millions of travellers will have less bad news to write in their postcards home."
