EU ministers agree to reduce compensation for flight delays

EU transport ministers have agreed revised rules on air passenger rights when flights are delayed or cancelled which will cut the compensation due for a delay and increase the length of delay before compensation applies.

The proposed changes are likely to draw criticism from claims companies and consumer groups but have also displeased airlines.

The ministers agreed a raft of changes to EU Regulation 261 on air passenger rights at a meeting on June 5, most crucially to increase the period of delay before passengers are entitled to compensation on flights under 3,500 km (short and medium haul) from three hours to four.

They agreed to increase the period of delay before compensation rules apply on flights over 3,500 km from four hours to six or more.

 

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The ministers propose to reduce the current amounts of compensation due for delays from €400 to €300 for flights up to 3,500 km, and from €600 to €500 for longer flights.

Airlines can only deny compensation due to “extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances” if they make every effort to mitigate a delay or cancellation.

Airlines had lobbied hard for compensation on short-haul, intra-European flights to only apply to delays of more than five hours and on long-haul flights of more than nine hours, arguing the current rules lead carriers to cancel more flights than they would otherwise do in response to air traffic delays or minor technical problems.

The changes would be the first to EU Regulation 261 since its introduction in 2004 and follow 12 years of stalled negotiations on revisions first introduced in 2013.

In the meantime, multiple court rulings by the European Court of Justice – Iata has identified more than 80 – have extended the circumstances in which compensation applies.

Ourania Georgoutsakou, managing director of Brussels-based Airlines for Europe (A4E) which represents Europe’s major carriers, said: “Europe has been waiting for transparent and workable passenger rights for 12 years and member states have fallen at the final hurdle. 

“Rather than providing delay thresholds of five and nine hours that would save up to 70% of rescuable cancelled flights, member states have diluted the EC’s original proposal and introduced even more complexity.”

The deal agreed by ministers involves more than 30 revisions which Poland’s minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak said “will bring over 30 new rights to air passengers”.

He hailed it as “a historical milestone, as an agreement couldn’t have been reached in the last 12 years”.

The proposed new rules, which remain subject to review by the European Parliament, propose a new right for passengers to be rerouted “at the earliest opportunity” in the event of delay or cancellation, including on flights with other carriers or via an alternative ‘suitable’ form of transport. 

If rerouting is not provided within three hours of the delay or cancellation, it is proposed that travellers would be able to arrange their own travel and claim a refund up to a value of 400% of the original ticket price.

The revisions include clarifications on passengers’ rights to assistance – to food and drink, to accommodation and to disembark during long delays if already boarded.

Carriers would face new requirements on transparency, on informing passengers of their rights and on handling claims under the proposals.

A statement on behalf of the Council of ministers following the agreement said: “The revision answers a need for simpler and clearer rules while aiming at striking a better balance between a high level of protection for passengers and preserving connectivity and a level playing field for the aviation sector.

“The new rules aim to strengthen and clarify several existing air passenger rights, together with the introduction of some new rights. 

“Key rights that were strengthened include the rights to be rerouted, the right to assistance and the right to information.”

The UK has its own Regulation 261 on air passenger rights, based entirely on the EU regulation. The previous government proposed changes to this which would have revised compensation rules but only on domestic flights.

The EU regulation applies to all flights taking off or landing in the EU, so whatever changes the EU agrees will apply to the majority of flights to and from the UK regardless of whether the UK government decides to mirror the EU revisions or to deviate from them.

 

Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: “Given passengers flying in Europe so regularly suffer significant delays, it is really disappointing to see the EU planning to reduce penalties on airlines that fail to run an on time service.

 

“Under UK regulations, those flying with a UK airline will continue to be able to claim for delays of more than three hours.

 

“This could create confusion for travellers who face flight delays when holidaying in Europe as they will have to contend with two different sets of rules depending on whether they are flying with a UK or EU-based airline.”