The European Parliament has reserved the rule that passengers should receive compensation if their flight is delayed by more than 3 hours. The new thing that MEPs decided is that the price that is announced at the very beginning of the search should also include luggage.
Another change is that parents traveling with their children, whose age is up to 14, can reserve a seat for the child next to them without paying a fee.
"With this agreement, it is easier for passengers to exercise their rights and claim compensation. We have ensured more rights for families and people with disabilities, as well as greater transparency. The prices of tickets that are displayed must include luggage from the very beginning. We have kept the 3-hour compensation threshold with the same amount of money," said European Parliament President Roberta Mezzola.
Overall, this agreement will strengthen passenger rights. It will increase transparency and predictability for airlines and the sector will remain competitive. "This is a good deal for Europe, citizens and airlines," she stressed.
Compensation and duty of care
Compensation for delayed or cancelled flights will depend on the distance of the flight: €250 for journeys up to 1,500 km, €400 for journeys between 1,500 km and 3,500 km and €600 for all other longer journeys. Airlines will be able to reduce compensation by 50% for the longest journeys if passengers are offered re-routing to their final destination after travel disruptions or if the arrival delay does not exceed 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 contain an open list of these extraordinary circumstances, including, for example, natural disasters, war, weather conditions that disrupt passenger lines or strikes at airports, air navigation or ground handling companies.
In all cases, air carriers will have the obligation to take care of stranded passengers by providing them with refreshments every two hours of waiting, meals after three hours and, if necessary in the event of long delays, accommodation for a maximum of three nights, the agreement states.
Faster and easier reimbursement
Airlines will have to provide passengers affected by travel disruptions (delays) with electronic or cancellation), clear instructions on how to submit a claim for compensation within four days of the end of their trip. MEPs ensured that passengers are not obliged to have a user profile or use a specific app to obtain this information. Passengers will have nine months to file a claim for compensation, while airlines will have 30 days to pay compensation or invoke extraordinary circumstances, explain why compensation will not be provided and direct passengers to the complaints process, the agreement states.
Protection of vulnerable passengers
MEPs ensured that passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility will have the right to compensation, re-routing and assistance from airlines if they miss a flight due to the airport's inability to help them get to the gate on time. They also ensured that families with children were not separated when allocating seats, by requiring air carriers to ensure that any person accompanying a child under 14 years of age must be accommodated in an adjacent seat without paying extra. The same right will apply to passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility, as well as pregnant women.
Improving passenger rights
The new rules now include the right to carry on board, without additional charge, one personal item, such as a small handbag or backpack. At the insistence of MEPs, price transparency and comparability of airline tickets were improved, with airlines, intermediaries and online search portals being obliged to always display the price of a flight ticket including hand luggage at the beginning of the booking process. Negotiators agreed that airlines can offer cheaper tickets to passengers who voluntarily choose to travel without hand luggage.
Passengers will no longer be charged additional fees for correcting spelling errors or for obtaining a printed version of their boarding pass if they have already checked in. MEPs also guaranteed passengers the right to receive boarding passes in electronic format upon check-in, without requiring or requiring them to have a user account or a specific application. Furthermore, passengers cannot be denied boarding on the grounds that they have used their own printed version of a boarding pass issued in electronic format, the agreement states.