EU Warns Airlines Against Adding Fuel Charges After Ticket Purchase Amid Energy Crisis

(The aviation industry. photo by BBC)

As the aviation industry suffers from high energy prices due to the Middle East conflict, the EU warned on Friday that airlines should not impose additional fuel taxes on passengers after they have already purchased tickets.

EU spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told reporters in Brussels, "Airlines may modify their published fares to the situation, but adding a fuel surcharge to a ticket after it has been bought cannot be justified."

Changes made after a reservation could "raise issues under the EU's unfair commercial practices," she continued.

The European Union stated that "any retroactive change of the price is excluded" in a paper released on Friday about the energy crisis impacting the aviation industry.

According to the European Commission, "airlines may not include terms and conditions which would allow them to raise the price of the ticket above what is advertised at the time of purchase simply because fuel was more expensive than they had accounted for."

The only exemption is for package holidays, provided the vendor has indicated in the contract that fuel-related price adjustments may be possible.

In certain situations, an increase of up to 8% is permitted; however, if the increase is more, the customer has the option to either accept it or cancel their reservation.

Due to the energy shock caused by the conflict, Spanish low-cost carrier Volotea has come under fire in France and is currently being investigated for charging consumers fuel surcharges.

The airline's France director, Gilles Gosselin, has justified the action.

"Three independent law firms that specialize in consumer law and aviation have verified the validity of our system. Gosselin told AFP in France, "The measure is transparent, it is temporary, and it works both ways."