STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 468 of 2000.

CONSUMER INFORMATION (ADVERTISEMENTS FOR AIRFARES) ORDER, 2000.

S.I. No. 468 of 2000.

CONSUMER INFORMATION (ADVERTISEMENTS FOR AIRFARES) ORDER, 2000.

I, TOM KITT, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 11 of the Consumer Information Act, 1978 ( No. 1 of 1978 ) (as adapted by the Enterprise and Employment (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1997 ( S.I. No. 305 of 1997 )) and the Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) (No. 2) Order, 1997 ( S.I. No. 330 of 1997 ), hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Consumer Information (Advertisements for Airfares) Order, 2000.

2. This Order shall come into operation on 1 March 2001.

3. In this Order--

“advertisement” includes, unless expressly provided otherwise, every form of advertising;

“charge” includes a fee or a tax by whichever source imposed or levied;

“electronic” includes electrical, digital, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, biometric, photonic and any other form of related technology;

“restrictions” includes, in relation to the availability of an airfare, restrictions on--

(a) flight times;

(b) the number of seats or the percentage of total aircraft capacity on specific routes;

(c) specific days of the week or months of the year;

(d) specific airports in relation to arrival or departure;

(e) specific source or method of booking;

and

(f) method of payment;

“total price payable for the airfare” means the total price of the airfare payable by the purchaser of the airfare, and includes all charges payable by him or her other than any charges imposed in respect of the method of payment;

“written” shall be construed as including electronic modes of representing or reproducing words in visible form.

4. (1) In every advertisement for an airfare--

(a) the total price payable for the airfare by the purchaser shall be clearly stated as one single amount and in the currency in which it is payable,

(b) where applicable, and separately, the monetary amount of any charge to be imposed in respect of the method of payment of the airfare shall be clearly stated.

(2) Without prejudice to the requirements of paragraph (1) of this Article, a statement of the individual amounts which constitute the total price payable for the airfare may be included in such an advertisement and where such a statement is included it shall specify every such amount together with the item in respect of which it is payable.

5. Without prejudice to Article 4 of this Order, where an advertisement for an airfare contains a statement about the method of booking or the method of payment for the airfare and there are restrictions with respect to the use of either such method applicable, the existence of those restrictions shall be clearly stated in the advertisement.

6. (1) Where there are any restrictions applicable in relation to the availability of an airfare, then--

(a) in the case of a written advertisement for the airfare, every such restriction shall be clearly specified in the advertisement,

(b) in the case of an advertisement for the airfare, other than a written such advertisement, the existence of every such restriction shall be clearly stated in the advertisement.

(2) Paragraph (1)(a) of this Article shall not be construed as requiring the specification of such a restriction to have the same degree of prominence in the advertisement concerned as the statement in the advertisement of the total price payable for the airfare has.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations provide for transparency in airline advertising, in order to give consumers accurate information about the full price of airline tickets and the availability of the airfares advertised.