Airlines receive warning over extra charges

Budget airlines have received a letter from Britain's passenger watchdog urging them to follow in BA's footsteps by showing all-inclusive fares on their websites.

The Air Transport Users Council's (AUC) move comes amid growing concerns that air passengers may be shelling out more than they intended when buying online tickets.

Most airlines currently list add-on taxes, fees and charges separately on website quotes, leading to unnecessary confusion among passengers.

Current laws do compel airlines to quote all-inclusive prices in adverts.

But the rule currently doesn't extend to websites, where extra charges and taxes often pop up at the last minute just before the customer is about to make their purchase.

The majority of passengers are also unaware that extra charges vary from one airline to the next, a recent study by the AUC showed.

This is not the first time airlines have been accused in recent months of pulling a fast one over unsuspecting customers.

Recent figures showed that fewer than one percent of compensation claims for flight delays result in pay-outs because airlines have found a way to exploit a loophole in new EU laws.

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