Fine Gael MEP Regina Doherty has expressed her support for an EU initiative that will prohibit airlines from charging parents extra to sit beside their children who are under 12 years old, reports Breaking News.
Ms Doherty, who sits on the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, noted that Irish airlines generally do not impose such charges on parents wanting to sit next to their young children.
However, she said several other European carriers do apply these types of seating fees, reports Breaking News.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Ms Doherty said she had long been “incensed” by airlines profiting from fees that force parents to pay extra to sit with their children.
“Children under 12 shouldn’t be without their parents. Airlines, I felt, were taking advantage of the fact that if they wanted to sit their families together, they had to pay extra charges, reports Breaking News.
“No more now; the Committee voted yesterday that airlines will not be able to charge families extra for sitting together,” reports Breaking News.
Ms Doherty called the charge an “abhorrent” practice and said new legislation would bring it to an end.
On Tuesday, the EU’s Transport Committee approved a set of measures aimed at enhancing passenger rights, reports Breaking News.
These proposals will go before the European Parliament for a vote in the coming weeks. If passed, they will then be negotiated by the European Council.
Ms Doherty said the proposals faced “little or no resistance.”
“I think everyone knows this is a commonsense approach,” Ms Doherty said, reports Breaking News.
“The second thing is, we’ve seen in recent months a controversy where people were getting charged extra for bags. One of the things we voted on yesterday was that people will have a right to have a 7kg carry-on roller bag with them as a right, once it gets through the Parliament,” reports Breaking News.
Ms Doherty added she anticipates the changes will come into effect “very soon.”
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