Overview
- EU member-state negotiators reached a compromise on Friday that keeps the three-hour delay threshold and the flat compensation bands of €250, €400 and €600 by distance.
- The package requires airlines to show clearer prices for hand luggage, provide better information on passenger entitlements, allow free ticket name corrections and ban charges for parents to sit next to their children.
- The political agreement from ambassadors in Brussels has been sent to the European Parliament for formal approval at a Monday session and faces a procedural deadline the night to Tuesday.
- The rules would apply to EU carriers and non‑EU carriers departing the EU and seek to clarify when ‘extraordinary circumstances’ free airlines from paying compensation.
- If the Parliament adopts the text, the new rules will enter into force and airlines will have 12 months to implement them, giving passengers clearer rights and forcing airlines to change pricing and claims processes; the reforms build on 2004 rules and a 2013 proposal.