24 February, the 14th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress reviewed the Amendment of the Civil Aviation Law.

The amendment includes a specific section on "passenger rights protection", which states that the general conditions of carriage and other pre-arranged clauses established by public air carriers must include provisions relating to the protection of passenger rights, such as the management of overbooking, the management of irregular flights, passenger services and passenger complaints, and must clearly inform passengers about this in the ticketing and other processes.

In addition, the amendment also specifies that, in the event of flight delays or cancellations, public air transport companies and airport operators shall issue informative notices in a timely manner and provide services to passengers, such as ticket changes and catering services, in accordance with national regulations and relevant contractual arrangements. In the event of large-scale flight delays, the airport operator shall strengthen organization and coordination, and evacuate passengers in time.

The amendment also lays down clear provisions on the protection of travellers' personal data, the acceptance, handling and response to complaints, etc., requiring public air transporting companies, airport operators and operators of aviation sales network platforms to publish information on the form of acceptance of complaints to society in an appropriate manner, accept and process complaints in a timely manner in accordance with the relevant provisions, and provide a timely response to complainants.

(Source: People’s Daily)