Low-cost Airlines

HC Deb 07 March 2003 vol 400 cc1237-8W

Mr. Chope

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 11 February,Official Report, columns 625–26W, on low-cost airlines, if he will establish rules to provide for compensation for consequential loss to air passengers whose flights are cancelled more than two weeks before departure. [101804]

Mr. Jamieson

Passengers suffering losses as a result of the cancellation of their flight may, if the flight was not part of an ATOL bonded package, seek redress via the courts. Determination of the extent of an airline's liability towards its passengers depends very much on the circumstances of each case, making the establishment of rules on compensation for consequential loss very difficult. The Government therefore does not intend to establish rules but to rely on existing judicial procedures for the settlement of claims.