§ Baroness BURTON of COVENTRYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are now in a position to make a statement upon the result of the discussions between the Civil Aviation Authority and British Airlines concerning the application of the overbooking compensation scheme to return flights resulting from an original booking made in the United Kingdom on British arilines.
Lord ORAMMy Lords, I understand from the Civil Aviation Authority that the airlines see difficulties in extending the scheme as suggested. The Authority is, however, continuing to explore the possibilities with the British airlines, including that of persuading airlines generally to provide compensation for denied carriage, on a worldwide basis. Naturally the Government hope that these further efforts will be successful.
§ Baroness BURTON of COVENTRYMy Lords, is the Minister aware that I left the Question on the Order Paper because I hoped that even he—and I am not being offensive—might think that four months was rather a long time to wait for a satisfactory answer? Does the Minister recall that it was 14th July when this matter was first raised? Further, may I ask the Minister whether he is aware that there are two points of view on this, and that the point of view which some of us have been pursuing is that this compensation on airline tickets should extend to the whole of the ticket and 1110 should first of all be covered by those airlines which have adopted the British airlines scheme?
Lord ORAMMy Lords, I understand the differing approaches to the Question, but I should like to assure my noble friend that she has allies in important places. I understand that the Civil Aviation Authority would like the airlines to go further than has been suggested by the Airlines Users' Committee of which she is a member and would wish the compensation to cover all passengers on inward flights, irrespective of where they happen to have bought their tickets. Therefore, I can assure my noble friend that there are many who think with her, but it is a question by which route we can best make progress and at what speed.
§ Baroness BURTON of COVENTRYMy Lords, is the Minister aware that being told that I have allies and that a lot of people agree with me is the best bit of news that I have had for a long time?
§ Baroness EMMET of AMBERLEYMy Lords, is the Minister aware that the last time that I put a supplementary to this Question I received a very courteous letter from the Civil Aviation Authority, saying that the delay was not their fault? However, could we trace where the fault lies regarding this delay? The journey of exploration seems to have gone on for rather a long time.
Lord ORAMMy Lords, we should not underestimate what has been achieved. The voluntary compensation scheme was a very important step forward, covering a considerable range, and my noble friend Lady Burton of Coventry deserves a good deal of credit for moving that far. What has been achieved up to this point is indeed a major achievement. We are now talking about extensions of that scheme.