Article from BTNews 29 AUGUST 2016
Double-whammy on charges
Passengers faced a double-whammy over airline charges last week. Korean Air said it would introduce no-show fees for long-haul flights as well as domestic, while new rules in the UK mean it could cost £25 to complain against carriers.
Korean Air says its fee is to minimise seat wastage and applies to tickets bought from 1 October for passengers who do not cancel reservations before scheduled departure time or do not board their flights after check-in is completed.
The fee for flights to and from Europe, North America, Latin America and Oceania will be US$120. Passengers on medium-haul routes to and from South-East and South-West Asia will face charges of US$70 and those on short-haul routes US$50.
In the UK, following a decision that the CAA will no longer mediate between customers and airlines, passengers on British Airways, easyJet and Thomas Cook face a £25 charge if any claim they make is unsuccessful.
Previously, the CAA acted as middleman between the two sides in disputes but the three airlines involved have now signed up to the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), which charges customers for unsuccessful claims.
Passengers with other airlines including Flybe and Ryanair are unaffected as those carriers have different rules.
OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)
All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum
Patrick Taylor, London
Regarding the £25 fee item. Unfortunately a lot of media have missed the point that it is only after your claim against an airline has been dealt with that you go to this third party to claim that the result is unfair/unsatisfactory. There are currently four Alternative Dispute resolution I believe and most airlines are signing up with one or other. Some are free to complainants even if their complaint is garbage.