EU commends Emirates website for commitment to transparency

After nearly two months of being accused by the European Commission of misleading passengers over website ticket prices, Emirates airlines has received a formal apology from the European Union (EU).

The airline, which demanded a public apology from the EU in end-May, said yesterday that EU has confirmed that Emirates airline's websites are fully compliant with all the requirements laid down in EU consumer legislation.

European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Meglena Kuneva, said in a statement to Emirates: "I am delighted to confirm that contrary to some earlier reported indications, Emirates airline is fully in compliance with all the requirements laid down in EU consumer legislation that were monitored in the recent 'health check' in relation to air ticket selling websites and, therefore, belongs to those companies that can serve as an example to be followed by other [such companies]."

"The European Commission's Director-General for 'Health and Consumers' (DG SANCO), has further commended the airline for its commitment to consumer transparency," Emirates said in an official statement yesterday.

Emirates, with 93 websites in 70 countries in 13 languages, was one of nine airlines named by the EU earlier in May for failing to address concerns about misleading customers on their websites.

Others on the EU list included Northwest and Aeroflot, while Air France-KLM and British Airways narrowly avoided inclusion by contacting the authorities in Brussels before the announcement was made.

The airline's request for apology from EU came shortly after it launched a new "best price" promotion on its website guaranteeing that no better fares for the same Emirates flights would be found anywhere else on the internet.

Richard Vaughan, Emirates' Divisional Senior Vice-President, Commercial Operations Worldwide, said in a statement: "Although we were disappointed with how the original investigations were conducted, we are pleased that this issue is now resolved, and that our customers can be absolutely satisfied that Emirates' websites not only fully comply with EU regulations, but also demonstrate leadership in terms of transparency and inclusive pricing."

He added that Emirates' commercial operations are guided by "fair business practices and transparency for our customers".

"All Emirates airlines' fares include taxes and surcharges and no service fees apply when bookings are made and paid for online," said Vaughan.

The European Commission, meanwhile, had recently said it wants all companies involved to put their websites straight, or at least commit to doing so, by the end of June 2009, after which remedial measures could be taken by the European group.

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