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Airlines complaints reach new heights
By Hilary O'Shaughnessy
 Irish
Airlines have attracted the highest number of complaints in the EU for
a second consecutive year according to a recent aviation report.
Figures released from the European Consumer Centre (ECC) say that complaints
against Irish airlines have almost doubled — having risen by about
181 per cent.
And of the complaints made to the ECC’s Dublin Office, Ryanair accounted
for seven-in-10, while Aer Lingus was the bone of contention for a further
three-in-10 air travellers.
ECC Ireland Director Tina Leonard admitted the results were disappointing.
She said: “It is frustrating that one year on from our first report
we don’t see much improvements for air passengers.”
In 2005 a total of 218 consum-ers made complaints against the airlines
but this figure rose to a whopping 612 last year.
The report, which is entitled Air Passenger Rights: Consumer Complaints
2006, foc-used on a number of main areas.
These included lost luggage, cancelled flights and delays.
About 16 per cent of the total complaints stem from Irish passengers —
with the number rising to 424 in 2006.
PR and marketing manager Rosaleen Quinlan said: “We are disappointed
there hasn’t been greater improvements and that the area of complaints
have remained largely the same.”
The report also showed that Irish airlines are failing to produce financial
compensation when necessary and in some cases ignore their consumers completely.
Other findings showed that only 3 per cent of the total complaints came
from British passengers even though Brit-ain has the highest amount of
air-passengers in the European Union.
One explanation for the large volume of complaints being made by Irish
air passengers is the growth in the number of people travelling to and
from Ireland by plane.
And as the country is home to Europe’s largest low-cost carrier,
Irish consumers are possibly more aware of their rights.
Ms Quinlan believes this is beneficial to all involved.
She said: “People have rights and they are aware of the legislation
in place to protect them.”
“From our perspective it is a good thing to bring your complaint
to us.”
Other issues looked at in the report include the lack of up-front assistance
to de-layed passengers and also airlines’ failure to provide information
on passenger rights.
The report makes 34 recommendations, including greater enforcement of
legislation, more readily-available customer guidelines and uniform legislation
across the board.
Last year almost 5,000 air travellers contacted the ECC Net with queries
and complaints.
Ms Leonard said: “We sincerely hope that this situation will change
radically in 2008.” |
