Airline passengers whose luggage is lost or delayed should have increased rights to compensation, members of the European Parliament’s transport and tourism committee said today.

Adopting a report ahead of a European Commission review of EU rules on air passenger rights next year, the MEPs said passengers who are forced to wait at an airport for their luggage should be entitled to increased support, such as food costs.

The MEPs also called for the Commission to incorporate the European Court of Justice’s interpretation of the term ‘extraordinary circumstances’ into the regulation.

“While EU legislation has already gone some way towards improving the rights of air passengers, more needs to be done to get them a fair deal and to ensure broader rights for all travellers,” said Keith Taylor, a UK Green MEP who drafted the report. It also calls for more information on the environmental performance and impact of flights.

The report calls for the Commission to address lack of access to airplanes for people with disabilities – specifically, a lack of training for staff and the physical infrastructure of airports and aircraft.

Last year, a United Nations special representative on disability said EU airlines were not applying a 2006 regulation on the rights of disabled people travelling by air. A Commission report concluded that airlines are still confused about the law.