4.3.4. Issues relevant in particular to air transport

When advertising flight options, traders should ensure that statements regarding the availability of seats and flights (e.g. ‘last seat available’) are provided in a clear and truthful manner. Such statements include relevant qualifications, where necessary (e.g. ‘last seat available on this website at this amount’). When advertising specific prices for flight options (e.g. ‘prices starting from 19.99 EUR’), the offered price must be available in quantities that are reasonable, having regard to the scale of the advertising made. Furthermore, traders should only present offers as time-limited if they will not be available at the same price afterwards. In addition to raising concerns about professional diligence under Article 5(2) UCPD and misleading practices under Articles 6 and 7 UCPD, the above-mentioned practices could fall under prohibitions in Annex I point No 5 (bait advertising), No 7 (false or misleading scarcity claims) and No 18 (inaccurate information on market conditions or on the possibility of finding the product). A flight’s ‘main characteristics’ within the meaning of Articles 6(1)(b) and 7(4)(a) UCPD should include the existence of stop overs, the precise indication of the flight’s place of destination and estimated flight time. This is particularly relevant for airlines which sometimes organise flights from airports located at a certain distance from a big city, but use the name of that city in their marketing. In some cases, such commercial practices may mislead consumers as to the airport’s actual location and be likely to cause consumers to take transactional decisions they would not have taken otherwise. Indeed, some consumers could prefer paying a higher price in return for arriving at an airport closer to the city of destination. On top of the requirements of Articles 6(1)(d) and 7(4)(c) UCPD to display the price inclusive of unavoidable and foreseeable fees and taxes, Article 23(1) of the Air Services Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 provides that ‘the final price to be paid shall at all times be indicated and shall include the applicable air fare or air rate as well as all applicable taxes, and charges, surcharges and fees which are unavoidable and foreseeable at the time of publication’. The Regulation also requires: the indication of the final price to be broken down into components (e.g. air fare, taxes, airport and other charges and surcharges); that optional price supplements are communicated in a clear, transparent and unambiguous manner at the start of the booking process; that the customer’s acceptance of optional price supplements must be on an ‘opt-in’ basis. The Court has clarified that price elements that are unavoidable and foreseeable under Article 23(1) include passengers’ check-in fees whose payment cannot be avoided because there is no alternative method of checking-in free of charge, the VAT applied to fares for domestic flights, and administrative fees for purchases made by means of a credit card other than that approved by the air carrier. By contrast, optional price supplements include passengers’ check-in fees whose payment can be avoided by using a free check-in option and the VAT applied to optional supplements relating to domestic flights (403). Where travel service providers who market their services online breach the CRD or the Air Services Regulation, aspects of the infringing practices that are not specifically regulated by Articles in these sector-specific legal instruments could be considered ‘unfair’ under the UCPD to the extent that they are likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision they would not have taken otherwise. This must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. The information requirements of the Air Services Regulation qualify as material information under Article 7(5) UCPD. They add to the UCPD requirements under Article 7(4) as regards information about the total price of the flight ticket including whether consumers need to pay a development fee at the departing/arriving airport. In addition it should be recalled that, as discussed in section 1.2.1, where sector-specific or other EU law is in place and its provisions overlap with the provisions of the UCPD, the corresponding provisions of the lex specialis will prevail. Information about mandatory fees to be paid after the booking process, for instance directly at the airport (e.g. development fee levied for all passengers departing from certain airports e.g. in Ireland and England) must be indicated and should be prominently displayed by the transport carrier or the travel agent at the start of the booking process. If airlines or intermediaries selling flight tickets link the cost of the payment surcharge to the means of payment used, the initial price should include the cost of the most common method of payment and, as clarified the Ryanair case (404), the administrative fees for purchases made by means of a credit card other than that approved by the air carrier. When such surcharges cannot be calculated in advance, consumers should be properly informed about the manner in which the price is calculated or about the fact that they ‘may be payable’. In addition, Article 19 of the CRD prohibits traders from charging the consumer fees for using a particular means of payment that exceed the cost borne by the trader for the use of such means. This should apply to all kind of fees which are directly linked to a means of payment, regardless of how they are presented to consumers. Article 23(1) of the Air Services Regulation requires that air fares and air rates available to the general public include the applicable conditions when offered or published in any form. The Court also emphasised in the Air Berlin case (405) that Article 23(1) of the Air Services Regulation requires online booking systems to display to consumers the final price to be paid whenever prices of air services are shown. Likewise, information concerning the luggage policy, including the hand luggage allowance, luggage size and all applicable fees, should also be prominently displayed. Any additional cost or fee in that regard must be clearly indicated (406). Changes to pre-existing luggage policies must be carefully communicated to consumers in order to avoid misleading them under in particular Article 7(1), (4) and (5) UCPD. An average consumer may have reasonable expectations on what the luggage policy entails, such as the inclusion of standard hand luggage that meets reasonable requirements in terms of its weight and dimension in the price of the ticket (407). Under Article 23(1) of the Air Services Regulation, optional fees for seat selection (the alternative being random allocation of seats to different parts of the aircraft) should be communicated in a clear, transparent and unambiguous way at the start of any booking process. Under the UCPD, where traders advertise a specific flight ticket, they should also indicate the cancellation policy that applies to that ticket (e.g. whether there is no refund or whether it is possible to change tickets). This is particularly relevant where administrative fees charged by the air carrier/travel agent to the consumer for cancelling the ticket amount to the actual cost of the ticket itself. When cancellation fees charged by airlines are even higher than the price paid for the ticket, claims by the trader that cancellation is possible are likely to be misleading. Also, procedures put in place should not make it difficult to reclaim taxes and charges no longer due. Otherwise, this could amount to a lack of professional diligence within the meaning of Article 5(2) UCPD and an aggressive practice under Articles 8 and 9, in particular Article 9(d) UCPD. In case of flight cancellations by the airline, the latter must provide passengers with clear information about the applicable passenger rights under the Air Passenger Rights Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, and the relevant procedures that must be followed by the consumer. The failure to provide this information in a timely and accurate manner could amount to a lack of professional diligence under Article 5(2) UCPD and may therefore be considered misleading under the UCPD. For example, information on applicable rights and procedures should be presented in a clear way giving the same prominence to the different statutory options the passenger has in the event of a flight delay/cancellation. It should be communicated to the passenger in a timely and user-friendly fashion, for example in the form of a hyperlink in email or SMS communication. Practices related to corrections of names on tickets should be transparent and proportionate, taking into account the circumstances of the case. In addition to concerns regarding the misleading nature of the practices, the imposition of additional fees may in some cases amount to an aggressive practice under Articles 8 and 9 in particular, for example, the consumer is only informed about such fees at the airport, with the flight imminently leaving. If the practice stems from contractual terms, the Unfair Contract Terms Directive may be applicable (see section 1.2.4).

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.