Easyjet accused of selling phantom flights

Passengers buying easyJet flights from East Midlands for next summer are being warned that they are likely to be left without seats as the airline has already announced that it is pulling out of the airport at the end of June.

Travellers may find they can't claim compensation from their travel insurance either as the airline has already announced that its flights will be cancelled ? even though it is still taking seat bookings.

A senior travel agent was quoted on an industry website claiming that thousands of passengers could be misled into booking the flights ? including six to the Mediterranean - with no prospect of compensation later when the flights are cancelled.

The budget airline has admitted that the flights from East Midlands are not cost effective, partly due to the rising cost of Air Passenger Duty, and publically announced its decision to withdraw from the airport.

EasyJet claims it cannot drop its flights from its website, however, because it is still in a 90-day consultation process with staff who will be affected by the loss of services from East Midlands.

It says that if it dropped the flights from the website now, it would give the impression to staff and negotiators that its decision was final and that the outcome of talks with staff was irrelevant.

The airline says that passengers who have booked flights that are later cancelled will be offered a full refund or free transfers to another easyJet route. This will be little consolation to passengers who have already booked accommodation, which they might not be able to reach.

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