The European Commission welcomes the political agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on improved enforcement of passenger rights across all modes of transport.
The new rules will allow passengers:
- to be better informed about their rights in case of travel disruptions;
- to be better equipped to request reimbursement or compensation through common forms, where carriers do not offer a similar process; and
- to be clearly informed on how to seek redress for their requests in case they do not receive the money.
The new rules will also clarify the reimbursement process when flights are booked through an intermediary. Where reimbursement is processed via an intermediary, the intermediary will no longer be free to determine its own timeline for payment to the passenger. Once it has received the reimbursement from the airline, the intermediary will have a maximum of 7 days to complete the payment to the passenger. The final payment will include the airfare and any intermediation fees. Micro-enterprises may be exempt from this rule, provided that passengers are informed of this exemption at an early stage.
Finally, special attention is given to the needs of passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility, in order to improve the quality of assistance where needed. Where it is necessary to meet aviation safety requirements, airlines can require that passengers with disabilities are accompanied, but airlines are required now to carry the accompanying person free of charge .
Next steps
The provisional agreement enforcing passenger rights in the EU will now have to be endorsed by the Council and the Parliament. It will then be formally adopted by both institutions following legal-linguistic revision. This regulation will then apply from the date on which the updated air passenger rights regulation will enter into application.
