Increase passenger compensation if incorrectly denied boarding due to documents

Background

It has been reported that since Brexit airlines have denied boarding by incorrectly alleging that passengers' travel documents are invalid for travel. When this happens, we call on the compensation to be increased to £2,000 to match the £2,000 penalty paid by airlines for the reverse scenario.

Additional details

Section 40 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 imposes a £2,000 penalty on airlines that bring an incorrectly-documented passenger to the UK, but Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as amended by Regulation 8(6)(a) of the Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 requires airlines to compensate only £220, £350 or £520 for incorrectly denying boarding to a correctly-documented passenger. This imbalance should be eliminated in order to incentivise airlines to train their ground staff.

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