Stronger air passenger rights in the EU on the way

In negotiations concluded on June 15, European Union transport ministers and the European Parliament have reached agreement on updated, stronger air passenger rights and airline liability in the EU.

This is according to statements by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament.

The new framework reinforces passenger protection while ensuring a fair balance with airlines’ operational realities, the Council of the EU said.

It also helps preserve connectivity across the EU and maintain a level playing field for airlines, the statement said.

The agreement strengthens and clarifies passenger rights, notably with regards to access to assistance and rerouting, the right to timely information, and entitlement to compensation in cases of cancellation or delay, it said.

A statement by the European Parliament said that MEPs have secured an air passenger rules deal that maintains compensation for three-hour delays, ensures faster reimbursement, fee-free child seating and flight price transparency.

The rules had not been updated since 2004.

The European Parliament’s negotiators resisted a push to weaken air passenger rights. Under the deal, air travellers maintain the right to be reimbursed or re-routed in case of cancellation, and to claim compensation if a flight is delayed by more than three hours, if it is cancelled less than 14 days before a flight, or if they are denied boarding.

Compensation for delayed or cancelled flights will depend on flight distance: 250 euro for journeys up to 1500 km, 400 euro for journeys between 1500 km and 3500 km, and 600 euro for all other longer journeys.

Air carriers will have the possibility to reduce compensation by 50 per cent for their longest journeys if passengers are offered re-routing to their final destination following travel disruption, or if the delay at arrival does not last more than four hours.

However, airlines will be able to avoid paying compensation, if the delay or cancellation was caused by events beyond their control. The new rules will have an open list of these extraordinary circumstances, including for instance natural disasters, war, weather conditions, unruly passengers, or airport, air navigation or groundhandling service provider strikes.

In all cases air operators will have a duty to take care of stranded passengers by providing refreshments every two hours of waiting time, a meal after three hours, and, if needed during long delays, an overnight stay of a maximum of three nights, the agreement says.

Air carriers will need to electronically provide passengers facing travel disruptions (delay or cancellation) with clear instructions on how to submit a request for compensation within four days of the termination of their journey.

MEPs ensured that passengers are not obliged to have a user account or to use a specific application to receive this information. Air passengers will have nine months to file a compensation request, while airlines will have 30 days to pay the compensation or invoke extraordinary circumstances, explain why compensation will not be provided and refer passengers to complaint handling steps, the deal says.

MEPs ensured passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility (PRM) will have the right to compensation, rerouting and assistance by airlines if they miss a flight due to the airport’s failure to help them reach the gate on time.

They also made sure that families with children are not separated during seating, by obliging air carriers to ensure that any person accompanying a child below the age of 14 should be seated on an adjacent seat without paying extra. The same right will apply to passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility, and to pregnant women.

The new rules now include the right to carry on board, without additional fee, one personal item, such as a small bag or backpack.

On the insistence of MEPs price transparency and the comparability of air tickets was increased by obliging airlines, intermediaries and search portals to always display the air fare inclusive of carry-on luggage at the outset of the book process.

Negotiators agreed that airlines may offer cheaper tickets for passengers who choose voluntarily to travel without hand luggage.

Air passengers will no longer be charged additional fees for correcting name spelling errors or for getting a printed version of a boarding pass if they have already checked in.

MEPs also secured passengers the right to obtain boarding passes digitally upon check-in, without any further request or obligation to have a user account or a specific application.

In addition, passengers shall not be denied boarding on the grounds that they used their own printed version of a digitally issued boarding pass, the agreement says.

Under the third reading procedure, the provisional agreement reached in the Conciliation Committee has to be confirmed by both the European Parliament and the Council of the EU within the next six weeks, with a possibility to extend this deadline by a further two weeks.

The two institutions will now vote separately on the joint text after its legal-linguistic revision. The European Parliament is planning to vote on the agreement during its July plenary session.

(Photo: Pablo Barrios)