Plane delays: the Twenty-Seven want to reduce passenger compensation

The 27 EU countries agreed on the evening of Thursday, June 5, to reduce passenger compensation for flight delays, a flexibility granted to airlines tempered by new rights granted to passengers. The subject of tough negotiations, this agreement between member states must now be discussed in the European Parliament.

Passengers can currently claim up to €600 for a delay of more than three hours , a rule adopted more than twenty years ago. But airlines regularly complain about an excessive financial burden—estimated at €8.1 billion per year by the European Commission.

To give them some breathing room, a majority of member states voted to change the rules, despite opposition from Germany. For flights up to 3,500 kilometers, as well as for all intra-European flights, passengers would be entitled to a €300 refund for delays of four hours or more. For longer journeys, passengers would receive €500 for delays of six hours or more.

Consumer associations have criticized the measure. "The new eligibility thresholds will deprive the majority of passengers of their compensation rights, given that most delays last between two and four hours," the European Consumer Organisation said.

However, the compromise did not satisfy the airlines. The Airlines for Europe (A4E) association, which includes Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, Ryanair, and easyJet, criticized the text for introducing "even more complexity" compared to the European Commission's initial proposal.

European leaders, for their part, highlighted "more than 30 new rights" for passengers, applicable between the time they buy their ticket and the time they arrive at their destination, Polish Minister Dariusz Klimczak welcomed. Philippe Tabarot , Minister of Transport, said he was "happy with the compromise" reached by the EU, in a message on the X network.