Passengers misled over costs
AIRLINES are misleading consumers by stripping out costs from airfares and including them as taxes and charges to make their fares appear cheaper.
A report from the Air Transport Users Council (AUC) warns that taxes, fees and charges (TFCs) are in danger of 'spiralling out of control' as the price war in the airline sector hots up.
Even on identical routes, TFCs specified during the booking process vary considerably between airlines, the AUC added.
Airlines must include TFCs in all advertisements but are not required to mention them during the booking process until a final quote is presented.
The AUC said in some cases the cost of taxes and charges exceeded the basic fare. It added consumers could be misled into thinking the TFCs were of a standard level and might not 'shop around' to get the best deal.
Most airlines include air passenger duty, departure tax and local airport taxes in their TFCs, but carriers are increasingly adding costs such as fuel surcharges, booking fees and credit card charges in the TFCs.
Some charges don't even relate to the actual cost to the airline. Ryanair, for example, imposes a 'wheelchair surcharge' on its passengers even if they do not need a wheelchair.
An AUC spokesman said: 'There is a danger that TFCs might spiral out of control as airlines separate out more and more of their costs in order to apparently seek a competitive advantage over their rivals.'
The AUC called on airlines to end the practice of separating out taxes, fees and charges from the basic fare during the booking process and to quote prices inclusive of taxes, fees and charges throughout their websites.
It added: 'Our research shows there are considerable discrepancies in the levels of taxes, fees and charges quoted on websites during the booking process by airlines operating similar or identical routes and the amount of TFCs quoted by airlines in general is increasing.'
For its report, the AUC carried out research into TFCs quoted during the booking process by airlines to their online customers on selected European routes in November 2004.
The AUC found that in some cases, base fares have gone down and have appeared to become more competitive when in fact the total price has remained the same due to the rise in TFCs.
It also found that budget airline easyJet has bucked the trend by consistently lowering the proportion of TFCs that make up its total prices. On a London-Amsterdam flight last November, an easyJet passenger would have been likely to pay only £10 in TFCs compared with £41 on a London-Amsterdam flight operated by British Airways.
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Reader feedback
'I fly quite frequently (mostly budget airlines), and I find it increasingly frustrating and annoying that airlines hide the tax charges, fuelsupplements and booking fees under the covers when they advertise their prices. These are additional charges that should be shown up-front.' RJ
'I agree totally. I booked (a flight from) Coventry to Lyon with ThomsonFly. The price was about £100 until you hit the TFC page which added another £50 per ticket. This is no longer a 'low-cost' flight. SN
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