Air Transport Users Council reveals passenger complaints have risen 22% during the last 12 months
In its annual report published this morning (25 July), the Air Transport Users Council (AUC) highlighted a 22% increase in the number of passenger complaints. Flight cancellations were the biggest gripe, accounting for 40% of written grievances.
AUC received 6,289 written complaints between April 2006 and March 2007, a marginal increase on the previous year and 5,757 telephone grumbles, representing a 53% rise.
The report accepts that complaints are tiny compared with the number of passengers passing through UK airports, which has risen 3% in the last year to 236m. AUC says changes to baggage regulations in August 2006 and fog disruptions at Heathrow last year contributed to the rise.
"Too many of the complaints were from passengers who have incurred expenses that they should not have incurred if the airlines had honoured their legal obligations," the AUC noted.
Interviewed on BBC Breakfast TV this morning, ABTN editor-in-chief Malcolm Ginsberg was asked about the single hand luggage rule, an area of considerable complaint not highlighted in the report.
"The government has to take this one as a matter of urgency," he said. "We are the only country in the world that has this ridiculous rule. It is not a question of security. Every bag, whether a passenger has one or four, needs to be vouched for, every bag scanned.
"The Department for Transport has been nobbled by the airports. If other countries can allow two so should we. The new minister must tackle this problem as it is driving business away from British airports."
Hidden deep down in the 30-page report were comments regarding airport passenger duty (APD), with the AUC stating that it is not opposed to additional environmental levies or taxes on passengers.
However, there has to be a clear connection between the charges and measures to mitigate the impact of aviation on the environment. "The Treasury's doubling of air passenger duty from 1 February 2007 did not meet these conditions," the AUC stated.