The European Commission has said that the results of the European Union’s “health check” of airline ticket selling websites show that significant progress has been made towards bringing these websites into compliance with European consumer protection rules. The Commission stated that, as a result of this investigation, 115 out of 137 airline websites have been brought into compliance with these rules. In addition, of the 67 major airline websites investigated, 52 received a "clean bill of health", meaning that those websites fully complied with the standards set out in a 14-point checklist, while the remaining made commitments to remedy the outstanding issues
This investigation was designed to monitor the situation surrounding online sales of airline tickets, taking into account the entry into force in September 2007 of the Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices and the Air Services Regulation. This was done on the basis of a 14-point checklist, agreed with the airline industry, which focused on clear pricing, the availability of offers and the existence of fair contractual terms.
The Commission is currently working with the airline industry to institute an industry wide agreement to uphold standards on airline ticket selling websites. The Commission is also preparing a Communication designed to strengthen the national bodies tasked with enforcing consumer protection on the internet.
