The new rules are coming! Refund within 7 working days after ticket refund.

　　Recently, the "Regulations on the Administration of Public Air Transport Passenger Services" was officially promulgated and will be officially implemented on September 1 this year. Yesterday, at the regular press conference held by the Civil Aviation Administration in March, Yu Biao, Director of the Transportation Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, interpreted the Regulations on the Administration of Public Air Transport Passenger Services.

　　Yu Biao introduced that compared with the original regulations, the new "Regulations" mainly have the following changes: First, expand the scope of application and unify the management of domestic and international transportation services; The second is to deepen decentralization and fully release the vitality of the market; Third, insist on sincere service and highlight the protection of consumers’ rights and interests; Fourth, strengthen supervision and ensure the strict implementation of regulations.

　　Change one

　　Complaints should be handled within 10 working days.

　　In view of the pain point of ticket refund and change, in order to prevent the carrier from abusing its dominant position and protect the legitimate rights and interests of passengers, the Regulations put forward principled requirements for ticket change and refund in different situations according to the passengers’ "voluntary" and "involuntary" situations.

　　It is clear that if the passenger refuses to refund the ticket or changes the ticket involuntarily due to the carrier’s reasons, the refund fee and change fee shall not be charged.

　　Yu Biao pointed out that in ticket service, in order to solve the problem of slow refund of civil aviation, airlines and aviation sales agents are required to complete the refund procedures within 7 working days. In terms of flight service, the Regulations require airlines and airport management agencies to formulate emergency response plans for sudden illness and accidental injury of passengers. In terms of complaint handling, the "Regulations" clarify that all enterprises complained must be handled within 10 working days.

　　In addition, the provisions of the Regulations are the minimum requirements that must be met, and the Civil Aviation Administration encourages carriers and air sales agents to provide better services for passengers.

　　Change 2

　　Foreign airlines, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan carriers are all included in the category.

　　Expanding the scope of application With regard to the object of application, the "Regulations" clearly stated in Chapter I General Provisions that these Provisions shall apply to carriers, airport management agencies, ground service agents, aviation sales agents, aviation sales network platform operators and aviation information enterprises established in accordance with the laws of People’s Republic of China (PRC) who engage in public air transport passenger service activities. These Provisions shall apply to foreign carriers, carriers from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan who engage in the activities specified in the preceding paragraph and whose flights originate or stop in People’s Republic of China (PRC) (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). The "Regulations" also include the business activities of foreign airlines, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan airlines in China, which fills the legislative gap.

　　Yu Biao introduced that with the acceleration of the internationalization of civil aviation, the original regulations on domestic and international transport rules and the mode of separate management can no longer meet the management needs of the internationalization of civil aviation. Therefore, the new "Regulations" unified the domestic and international air passenger service rules for the first time, and realized the integration of domestic and international passenger transport service rules.

　　Change three

　　Provisions related to baggage transportation have been greatly reduced.

　　On the one hand, the uniform provisions on baggage size, weight, free baggage allowance, excess baggage fee and so on have been deleted from the Regulations, and carriers can make their own standards and publish them to the public according to the operating characteristics of enterprises, so as to fully release the market vitality and give play to the initiative, enthusiasm and creativity of carriers.

　　On the other hand, the Regulations further strengthen the baggage transportation management system, requiring carriers, ground service agents and airport management agencies to establish a checked baggage monitoring system to prevent baggage transportation problems, and focus on clarifying the disposal requirements in case of delayed, lost or damaged baggage, so as to fully protect passengers’ property rights and interests. Yu Biao introduced that compared with the previous regulations, the "Regulations" deleted the "one-size-fits-all" regulations on baggage size, weight, free baggage allowance, excess baggage fee, etc. Airlines can formulate relevant standards on their own according to the business characteristics of enterprises and announce them to the public, so as to fully release the market vitality and provide passengers with diversified and differentiated aviation service products.

　　Yu Biao said that the original regulations were formulated in the initial stage of civil aviation development, and were influenced by the "separation of government from enterprise" at that time, and detailed regulations were made on reservation, ticket purchase, fare, flight, baggage transportation, etc. Many of these contents should be decided by enterprises according to market rules. These regulations have become increasingly unsuitable for the rapid development of the air transport market, and also seriously restricted the enthusiasm of market participants for innovative services. What should be dominated by the market should be returned to the market, giving full play to the autonomy of enterprises and releasing market vitality. This revision has greatly deleted and adjusted the previous provisions on enterprise services that were too detailed and too well managed.

　　Change four

　　Make clear the boarding order in case of oversold.

　　Article 44 of Chapter VII of the Regulations requires that when the number of passengers actually flying exceeds the number of seats due to overbooking by the carrier, the carrier or its ground service agent shall look for passengers who voluntarily give up the trip according to the procedures for soliciting volunteers. Without the procedure of soliciting volunteers, the priority boarding rules shall not be used to determine the passengers who are refused boarding.

　　Article 46 requires that the carrier’s priority boarding rules should conform to the principle of public order and good customs, and the factors to be considered should at least include the needs of special passengers such as the old, the young, the sick, the disabled and the pregnant, and the connection of subsequent flights. The carrier or its ground service agent shall determine the passengers who are refused boarding according to the priority boarding rules only after the procedures of soliciting volunteers fail to find enough volunteers.

　　Article 47 requires that the carrier or its ground service agent should compensate the passengers who have been refused boarding and provide relevant services in accordance with the provisions on the disposal of oversold.

　　Change five

　　The platform shall not disclose, sell or illegally use passenger information.

　　The Regulations clarify that carriers, airport management agencies, ground service agents, aviation sales agents, aviation sales network platform operators and aviation information enterprises shall abide by the state regulations on the protection of personal information and shall not disclose, sell, illegally use or provide personal information of passengers to others.

　　The Regulations on the Administration of Public Air Transport Passenger Services shall come into force on September 1, 2021. China Civil Aviation Passenger and Baggage Domestic Transportation Rules promulgated by the former CAAC on February 28th, 1996 (CAAC Order No.49), CAAC Decision on Amending China Civil Aviation Passenger and Baggage Domestic Transportation Rules promulgated on July 12th, 2004 (CAAC Order No.124) and China Civil Aviation Passenger and Baggage promulgated on December 8th, 1997.

　　Text/Reporter Yan Lishuang Coordinator/Yu Meiying