Airlines oppose EU website

AIRLINES across Europe, including Aer Lingus, have opposed the development of a new EU website which would provide air passengers with information on their performance.

Reluctance from most of the main airlines operating within the EU is preventing consumers from accessing details about flight punctuality and cancellations which is currently available on a website developed by the European Commission.

The project entitled Community Air Passenger Report System (CAPRS) also contains data on lost and stolen luggage and the number of passengers denied boarding due to overbooking.

The European Commission has expressed disappointment that it cannot obtain voluntary agreement from the airlines to make the CAPRS system available to the general public, despite several attempts to reach a consensus on the level of statistics which could be disclosed.

An EU spokesperson said CAPRS was designed to enable air passengers to compare the service quality offered by the various airlines in order to improve consumer choice.

The CAPRS website, which has restricted access, was also meant to allow consumers to get detailed information about the performance of airlines operating on the same route.

Only 16 out of 51 of Europe’s leading carriers have been participating in a pilot CAPRS project since 2003, including Ryanair.

However, the EU believes such a response was sufficient to proceed with the project as the participating airlines account for over 70% of all scheduled flights.

Aer Lingus declined the invitation to take part in the project. The national carrier has also opted out of providing information on punctuality and lost baggage to the airlines’ own representative organisation, the Association of European Airlines.

A spokeswoman for Aer Lingus said information about the punctuality of flights was published on the airline’s own website. However, it is a monthly performance figure and does not include a breakdown of airports where Aer Lingus experiences most delays.