The European Parliament yesterday voted for more rights for airline passengers. These include new rights for passengers who have been denied boarding, been subject to long delays, or have misspelt names on their tickets, and legislation to stop airlines avoiding paying compensation for delays by claiming the problem was outside their control.

Via EU legislation, people in the UK are already covered by a range of rights when flying in Europe but at the moment just 2% of passengers who are entitled to compensation actually get it, which is why MEPs supported further improvements to the law, to protect passengers and make sure everyone knows what they’re entitled to.

I and my MEP colleagues know that many people have come up against a brick wall when making a claim for compensation because the airlines argue they are not responsible for the delay or flight cancellation, which is why we voted to make sure airlines no longer have any excuse.

The European Parliament also supported changes to the compensation rules, which will mean passengers delayed by just three hours will be able to claim compensation. We want to make sure that passengers who don’t use an outbound ticket are not prevented from using the return leg.

In addition to these and many other improvements, Labour MEPs are working with David Blunkett MP to strengthen the rights of disabled passengers and passengers with reduced mobility. We need to make sure that EU law works for passengers, protecting and enforcing their rights and preventing airlines from abdicating their responsibilities.