Millions of travellers who book their own flight and hotel arrangements via the internet need updated European Union protection against companies going bust, said the European Commission. When the existing EU legislation was adopted in 1990, "a package holiday was the most common sort of holiday in Europe ... typically sold by travel agents in the high street at an inclusive price," said Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva. However, the rise of the internet has destroyed the old model for consumer protection and more than half of travellers' purchases no longer fall within the remit of the so-called EU Package Travel Directive.

As a result, Ms Kuneva is launching a new consultation with the tourism industry focused mainly on rights when making multiple purchases from different providers and seeking "to give millions of customers better protection," she told a press conference.

One of the more controversial areas that will be examined is whether passengers who buy air tickets can be compensated when airlines go bust, as was the case with XL Airways, Air Madrid, EU Jet and Sabena.

In many of these cases, people were left stranded.