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More complaints about Irish airlines
than rest of Europe AER LINGUS and Ryanair are the most complained
about airlines in Europe.
Most grievances related to delays, loss of or damage to luggage or cancellations.
A report from the European Consumer Centre Network shows that in 2005,
218 complaints were received about Irish airlines around one-sixth of
all complaints.
Virtually all related to Aer Lingus or Ryanair.
Only Britain, with 207 complaints, came near the Irish total.
Since the figures were compiled both airlines have introduced a number
of charges, mainly for baggage, which have drawn further criticism from
passengers.
Meanwhile Ryanair is in the top five airlines for complaints received
by the European Commission, a senior official in Brussels revealed recently.
But this isn’t all that surprising given that Ryanair is one of
Europe’s biggest airlines.
In 2006 it carried more passengers than any other European airline with
the exception of Air France and Lufthansa.
Ryanair itself said that it received more than 1,900 complaints in February
but added that this represented about one complaint per 2,000 customers.
In 2006 Ryanair was the subject of 266 complaints and queries to the ECC
office in Dublin which marked a five-fold increase in two years.
Some 109 complaints and queries were received about Aer Lingus compared
to 67 in 2004. |
