EU Considers Changes to Airline Delay Compensation Rules

The compensation rules, called "EU 261," in force in the event of flight delays or cancellations are likely to be modified. Poland, which has held the Presidency of the Council of Europe since January 1, has launched a process in this direction, as the compensation costs airlines between three and four billion euros per year, reports Le Parisien. Currently, airlines are obliged to pay (automatically) 250 euros per ticket for a journey of 1,500 kilometers or less, 400 euros for a journey of 1,500 to 3,000 kilometers within the European Union (EU), and 600 euros for those outside the EU or exceeding 3,000 kilometers in the event of a three-hour delay.

If the delay is due to an external event (weather incident, strike...), no compensation is granted. Airlines also have to deal with any additional "expenses" incurred by the customer due to the delay or cancellation, such as a taxi, a hotel night or a restaurant.

The wish of the European Commission is to push back the triggering threshold from 3 to 5 hours, but above all to reduce this compensation to 250 euros for journeys of less than 3,500 km. So that the compensation would be 400 euros for a 9-hour delay on a flight within the EU of less than 3,500 km and on extra-EU flights of 3,500 to 6,000 km, and would amount to 600 euros in the event of a 12-hour delay on an extra-EU flight of more than 6,000 km. "There are probably conditions to be reviewed," notes Xavier Tytelman, an industry expert. "Sometimes, an airline does everything it can, spends money to bring the passenger to their destination, and ends up having to compensate as well."

For example, he explains that if the Transavia plane has a breakdown in Casablanca, Morocco and the company charters another aircraft from Paris, it will take three hours to arrive, and it will also have to compensate the passengers. "There is sometimes a rather unfair side to it," the specialist points out. "But this regulation has, at the same time, encouraged airlines to do more."