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LCQ15: Oversale of air tickets by airlines
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     Following is a question by the Hon Paul Tse and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Yau Shing-mu, at the Legislative Council meeting today (February 22):

Question:

     In recent years, my Member's Office has from time to time received complaints from members of the public in Hong Kong against the oversale of air tickets by airlines, in particular the airline that has the largest market share in terms of air passenger volume in Hong Kong. The complainants alleged that they were notified of the unavailability of seats only upon arrival at the airport or shortly before boarding, and they were forced to negotiate with the staff members of the airline concerned at the airport, but the attitude of its staff members was usually very poor, and the airline concerned usually only undertook to upgrade their seats or offer one-night hotel stay as a compensation, without regard to delay in the itinerary of the passengers that might have caused, as well as the financial loss suffered by and the inconvenience brought to the passengers. They were of the view that the airline concerned, because of its large market share, had ignored the rights and interests of those individual passengers who lacked bargaining power. They also queried that in an earlier incident of flight delay suspected to be caused by the oversale of air tickets by an airline, a celebrity in the catering industry brought along journalists to cover the process of his negotiation with the airline concerned at the scene and was subsequently offered compensation that was much higher than that in similar incidents. They criticised that this was no different from the hegemonic style of the two power companies which ignored the overall interest of the community and the public, and initially sought to make the maximum permitted return of 9.9% recently. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it knows the number of requests for assistance and complaints involving the oversale of air tickets by airlines received by government departments, the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong and the Consumer Council in each of the past three years, as well as the details of such cases;

(b) whether it has designated any government department or established any procedure and mechanism to handle requests for assistance and enquiries involving the oversale of air tickets by airlines; further, whether it has publicised the relevant procedures and mechanisms; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(c) whether it has examined the impact of the oversale of air tickets by airlines on flight passengers and the passenger flight industry in Hong Kong; if it has, of the impact; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it can examine the issue as soon as possible; and

(d) given that the number of disputes between airlines (including those involving the airlines themselves or the travel agents that sell air tickets on behalf of airlines) and consumers over the oversale of air tickets has been on the rise, and that the authorities are currently examining the issue of reforming the regulatory framework of the tourism sector of Hong Kong, whether it will consider concurrently studying the introduction of a regulatory and co-ordination mechanism to handle the disputes between flight passengers and airlines; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; how it will step up efforts in safeguarding consumer interest in the light of the aforesaid situations?

Reply:

President,

(a) The numbers of requests for assistance and complaints involving the oversale of air tickets by airlines received by the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) and the Consumer Council (CC) during 2009 to 2011 are set out below:

     2009   2010   2011
-----------------------
CAD  1      1      1
CC   6      9      10

     As the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong does not maintain record about cases for assistance and complaints involving the oversale of air tickets by airlines, it is not able to provide the requested information.

(b) Passengers having consumer disputes with airlines may lodge a complaint with CC. CC generally helps the passengers and airlines discuss and resolve the disputes through mediation.

(c) Airlines in general will provide flexibility to passengers by allowing them to make last minute changes to their itineraries after the purchase of air tickets. It is therefore not uncommon where passengers will not board the plane as scheduled after buying the air tickets. Airlines usually will take into account the situation of individual flights and past experience to estimate the "no-show rate" and allow overbooking of air tickets as appropriate. The arrangement facilitates passengers in need to travel to their destinations by taking up the seats that have been reserved but not checked in by other passengers. This arrangement also helps reduce the number of unused seats in each flight. In general, airlines will communicate with the affected passengers and provide necessary assistance and corresponding arrangements to minimise the inconvenience to the passengers concerned.

(d) The Government's proposed establishment of an independent statutory regulatory body in the reform of the regulatory framework of the tourism sector focuses on regulating travel agents, tourist guides and tour escorts with a view to enhancing the quality of tourism services of Hong Kong. The services provided by airlines to passengers are based on commercial contracts entered into between the two parties, and are related to the operations of the airlines. Such matters do not necessarily have any consequential relationship with the regulatory framework of the tourism sector.

Ends/Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:03

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