NEW EUROPEAN FLIGHT RULES: WHAT PASSENGERS GAIN – AND WHAT THEY COULD LOSE

The European Union is reforming air passenger rights, with families, pregnant women and people with reduced mobility expected to benefit from the new rules. However, passengers could also face certain disadvantages in some areas.

DW answers the key questions surrounding the changes.

Negotiations on new European rules governing air passenger rights have been blocked several times. After more than 13 years, the reform cleared its final hurdle earlier this week, when EU member states' ministers also gave the green light to the changes.

One of the main points of disagreement for years was the level of compensation and the threshold for passengers to qualify for it, DW reports.

EU member states initially wanted passengers to become eligible for compensation only after four hours of flight delays, while also proposing lower compensation amounts. In the end, the basic conditions remained unchanged: passengers will be entitled to compensation if their flight is delayed by at least three hours.

HOW MUCH COMPENSATION CAN PASSENGERS RECEIVE?

Depending on the distance of the flight, compensation amounts are set at:

€250 for flights of up to 1,500 kilometres

€400 for flights of up to 3,500 kilometres and flights within the EU

€600 for flights longer than 3,500 kilometres that do not take place entirely within the EU

These thresholds also apply when a flight is completely cancelled, provided the passenger was informed of the cancellation less than 14 days before the scheduled departure.

WHAT ARE THE ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS?

A key condition for receiving compensation is that the airline is responsible for the flight delay or cancellation.

The new rules will more precisely define so-called extraordinary circumstances for which the carrier is not held responsible. These may include:

passengers behaving violently or inappropriately

severe weather conditions

natural disasters

strikes by airports or ground-handling service providers

However, the airline will still have to prove that these circumstances directly caused the disruption to air traffic.

Within 96 hours of completing their journey, airlines will have to inform passengers about their rights and explain how they can exercise them. Passengers will then have nine months to submit a claim.

After receiving a claim, the airline will have 30 calendar days to pay the compensation or explain why the passenger is not entitled to compensation in the particular case.

The EU's goal is to simplify the claims process and enable more passengers to exercise their rights. In the future, there should also be a voluntary EU certificate for air passenger rights, allowing airlines to confirm that they operate in compliance with European regulations.

WHAT NEW RIGHTS ARE BEING INTRODUCED?

Children under the age of 14 should be able to sit next to their parents on flights without an additional seat reservation fee. The same will apply to pregnant women, as well as people with reduced mobility and their accompanying persons.

Airlines will also be required to correct spelling mistakes in passengers' names on tickets free of charge. They will also have to provide a printed boarding pass at no additional cost to passengers who have already completed online check-in.

Air carriers will in the future be required to display ticket prices together with the cost of hand luggage as a standard practice. This should make it easier for passengers to compare prices.

At the same time, airlines will still be allowed to offer cheaper fares to passengers who voluntarily choose not to bring a larger piece of hand luggage into the cabin.

Passengers who are forced to travel in a lower class than the one they originally booked – a so-called downgrade – will automatically receive a partial refund within 14 days. The amount of the refund will depend on the ticket price and the distance of the flight.

The rules will also more clearly define passengers' rights in the event of disruptions to their planned journey. After two hours of waiting, passengers will be entitled to refreshments, after three hours to a meal, and subsequently to an additional meal every five hours, with a maximum of three meals per day.

Passengers will also be entitled to internet access and at least two telephone calls.

Travellers who purchase a return ticket but do not use the outbound flight, or part of it, under the so-called "no-show" situation, will still be allowed to use their return flight. Airlines will not be permitted to charge an additional fee for this.

This is important because, in practice, it can sometimes be cheaper to purchase connected flights, meaning passengers may deliberately choose not to use one part of their journey, or may simply miss a flight unintentionally.

WHAT RIGHTS APPLY WHEN ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT IS NEEDED?

If a disruption requires passengers to stay overnight, they must be provided with free hotel accommodation, as well as free transport between the airport and the accommodation.

If an airline fails to provide such assistance, passengers may arrange a reasonable alternative themselves and subsequently request reimbursement of the costs.

In many situations, passengers will also have the right to alternative transport to their final destination. This could include:

another airport near the final destination

an alternative travel route

transportation with another airline

even travelling by train

The conditions of travel must be comparable to those originally booked. For example, passengers who reserved a direct flight should not be forced to take a journey involving several connections.

The airline must offer such an alternative within three hours. If it fails to do so, passengers may arrange their own journey to the destination.

In that case, the airline will be required to reimburse the costs, up to a maximum of four times the original ticket price.

There was previously no such upper limit. This means the reform could represent a disadvantage for passengers who purchased very cheap tickets but were subsequently forced to buy expensive replacement tickets on the day of travel.

For these travellers, the new rules could therefore mean less protection than under the current system.