MEPs have backed a move to bolster air passengers rights in the European Union.<br /><br />The new rules, once approved, will make it harder for airlines to avoid paying compensation for delays and crack down on restrictive hand luggage policies.<br /><br />“We really worked a lot on the issue of information, on transparency from the moment you buy your ticket. That means that the customer knows what they need to do when there’s a problem and how to make a claim or a complaint,” said Georges Back, a centre-right MEP from Luxembourg.<br /><br />But will airlines just make passengers pick up the tab for the planned tighter rules by hiking prices?<br /><br />“The answer to that is: everything has a cost and if something happened which increases costs then inevitably ultimately they will arrive at the ticket price,” said David Henderson from the Association of European Airlines.<br /><br />EU governments will now look at the proposals from MEPs. The text will then be sent back to the European Parliament for a second reading later this year.
