A third of customers buying plane tickets online are being ripped off

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Dozens of airlines could be forced to shut their websites for misleading travellers about flight costs.

A European Commission investigation found a third of sites - 137 out of 386 monitored - broke rules on terms, clear pricing and offer availability.

Only about half of the 137 corrected their websites in the seven months after the inquiry, said a report out yesterday in Brussels.

The study of airlines in 13 EU countries revealed 'serious and persistent' consumer problems involving hundreds of ticketselling websites, but said it could not name the perpetrators 'at this stage'.

Consumer commissioner Meglena Kuneva, who has threatened to close airlines' websites in the past, said: 'It is unacceptable that one in three consumers going to book a ticket online is being ripped off or misled and confused.

'My message to the industry is clear - act now or we will act.'

European consumers' group BEUC yesterday urged the commission to name the offenders.

It said: 'With this information, consumers will be able to turn their backs on these websites.'

The study did not include Britain, which held its own inquiry in 2007.

The Office of Fair Trading acted against 13 airlines that did not include fixed, non-optional costs, such as taxes, in their web prices.

The European consumers' group BEUC yesterday urged the Commission to name names and expose the airline ticket-selling websites which are misleading customers.

BEUC director-general Monique Goyens said she welcomed the Commission inquiry, but added: "What is missing is the names of the companies which are not playing by the rules.

"It is only armed with this information that consumers will be able to fully play their role in the market by turning their backs on these websites."

She added: "The Commission has done part of the work by underlining the continued presence of unfair practices in the sector of online sales of airline tickets. We will be asking our members to go further and to divulge, if necessary, the names of the companies in the wrong."