The European Union wants to revise the Passenger Rights Regulation more than 20 years after its introduction. However, proposals for direction of change are controversial. This is primarily about compensation for delays. The European Commission and the EU Council are in favour of higher thresholds for delays in compensation and the extension of the airline liability exemption catalogue, which, according to Euro MPs, undermines the protection of travellers. The European Parliament calls for the existing rules, additional passenger guarantees and the inclusion of non-EU carriers.
The compromise reached during the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union on transport related to the amendment of the Passenger Rights Regulation assumes that a minimum compensation of EUR 300 would be paid for delays of at least 4 hours on intra-EU flights and on routes of little than 3.5 1000 km (currently EUR 250 for delays of more than 3 hours). For longer flights, the hold threshold would increase from 3 to six hours while reducing compensation from 600 to 500 euros.
– The European Commission has put forward a proposal which, alternatively of protecting passengers, truly supports airlines without consulting the European Parliament. We were outraged and in the Committee on Transport, 99% of MEPs advocated strengthening passenger rights in aviation – she evaluates in a conversation with Newseria MEP Elżbieta Łukacijewska from the Civic Coalition.
As he adds, the EC besides wanted to change the list of airline liability exemptions for delays. To date, specified situations have been, among others, war, armed conflicts and natural disasters, and the Commission has besides added crew strikes or plane failures.
– After all, failures or strikes are an immanent part of the action of all economical operator and we see no reason why the passenger would be responsible. The MEPs, I too, have tabled amendments. We go back to making compensation 3 hours late, making it a very fast path, and the only situations where compensation is not due are armed conflicts or climate disasters and nothing more. – mentions the MEP.
In October, the Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted negotiating guidelines for talks with the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU on changes in airline passenger rights in the EU by 34 votes, with 2 abstentions. Members have supported the current rules and want to hold the right of airline passengers to reimburse or reroute, as well as to search compensation in case of hold or cancellation by more than 3 hours or in case of denied boarding. In the second case, passengers would receive immediate compensation. The proposal of the parliamentary committee besides concerns the introduction of a common form of claims for damages. They want to require air carriers to send passengers a pre-filled form or to run alternate automatic communication channels within 48 hours of the disruption.
– What is besides very crucial for all passengers - we have drawn all the lines outside the European Union to these provisions. It cannot be that any compensation should be made only by those who operate in Europe and have European position in the European Union, but will concern all those who operate in the European marketplace – says Elżbieta Łukacijewska. – We have besides added regulations that say that the immanent part of the ticket price is luggage – a bag, but besides hand luggage up to 8 kg. It cannot be that in low-cost airlines passengers pay for this.
Members of the European Parliament are besides calling for government to guarantee that children under the age of 14 are given a seat on the plane without surcharge. Currently, this anticipation must be paid extra for any lines.
According to a study prepared by AirHelp, in the summertime of 2024, 110 million airline passengers (39%) of 285 million were disturbed during flights. Of this, 6 million people had to cancel the flight and 2.9 million had to be delayed by more than 3 hours (2.2%). In Poland, 34% of air passengers were affected at the time. 1 major reason for delays and cancellations were air traffic control strikes.
Another problem that passengers frequently face is the difficulty in providing additional paid services, specified as the popular fast track, i.e. the anticipation of rolling through safety controls. Passengers are besides outraged by the scale of baggage loss. AirAdvisor, who specializes in compensation payments, has analyzed data from online search engines on this problem at 53 airports and has identified 3 on which this problem occurs most often. The first place on the disgraceful list is taken by London's Heathrow (nearly 19,000 searches), the second is Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, and the 3rd is Dubai's global Airport. Passengers besides point to cases of theft of valuable items from the supplied suitcases.
From the data provided by Eurocontrol, the popularity of air passenger transport continues to grow. This year's summertime season, air traffic increased by 3.3 percent compared to the erstwhile year. The long-term forecast (in the most likely scenario) assumes that 15.4 million flights will be made in Europe in 2050, an increase of 52% compared to 2023.
