EU pressures likes of Ryan air to stop forced insurance sales
More than 50 European airlines, such as Ryanair and EasyJet, have stopped adding travel insurance to the price of online tickets under pressure from EU regulators in Brussels, the FT reports.
European Commission officials will announce today, the paper said, that more than 50 airlines have reformed their online booking sites, or will do so shortly, after the Commission threatened to "name and shame" them in its first European Union-wide consumer enforcement action.
The reforms stop the use of pre-ticked boxes, which forced consumers to opt out of taking insurance rather than opting in.
Ryanair said it changed its site at the beginning of April, while EasyJet said it would act in the summer.
Ryanair said it still disagreed with the changes, as some passengers might now fly without travel insurance by mistake rather than by choice.
If no progress is made with the few remaining airlines, national authorities could be asked to take direct enforcement action.
