A NORTH West MEP has welcomed a vote in the European Parliament to give air passengers even stronger rights.

Brian Simpson, who chairs the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee, said: “As Britain is part of the EU, people in the UK are already covered by a range of rights when flying in Europe but at the moment just two per cent of passengers who are entitled to compensation actually get it.

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

“We’ve also supported changes to the compensation rules, so that passengers delayed by just three hours will be able to claim compensation.

“And we want to make sure that passengers who do not use an outbound ticket are not prevented from using the return leg.”