If you have been bumped off a scheduled flight due to the airline's overbooking, you know how annoying it can be. Since 1991, under existing EU rules, you are entitled to be compensated for this inconvenience, to the tune of £105 sterling for flights up to 3,500 km. Unfortunately, many consumers are unaware of this ruling.

Change is in the air. The EU Transport Commissioner, Mr Neil Kinnock, has proposed that higher compensation of between £130 and £260, depending on flight distance, be paid to customers who are taken off overbooked flights and that airlines advertise this at their check-in desks, where payment will have to be immediate.

Current compensation is paid only on scheduled flights, but Mr Kinnock has extended it to charters as well. EU transport ministers must approve the proposal before it can become law.