EU: Strengthening air passenger rights
Demanding free-of-charge carry-ons or seat selection for children and transparent pricing when booking flights, the EU is going to battle against the practices of low-cost airlines. In June 2025, the EU’s Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted proposals to strengthen passenger rights within the EU, aiming to increase transparency, simplify processes, and ensure fairer treatment of passengers.
Clear rules for intermediaries
The new rules aim to clarify the role of ticket vendors and other intermediaries. They would have to inform passengers at the time of booking about the full cost of the ticket including all intermediation fees, and of the reimbursement process (which must not take more than 14 days). Should the intermediary fail to meet this deadline, the liability shall pass onto the air carrier who shall have a further seven days to deal with the passenger's claim.
Common form
The EU’s committee has proposed the introduction of a standard form for compensation and reimbursement requests which should be sent to passengers pre-filled within 48 hours of any problems; alternatively, passengers may be able to request compensation in other form. This is intended to simplify and speed up the process of exercising the rights of passengers.
Precise definition of extraordinary circumstances
To reduce the margin for interpretation as to when an air carrier can deny compensation to a passenger, an exhaustive and precise definition of extraordinary circumstances has been provided. These include, for example, natural disasters, war, adverse weather conditions or unforeseen labour disputes (excluding strikes by airline staff).
This follows up on earlier efforts to amend the regulation establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to air passengers, which aimed not just to define extraordinary circumstances but to provide a list of extraordinary and non-extraordinary circumstances; however, even after more than 10 years, the amendment has not been passed.
Hand luggage and rights of vulnerable passengers
Another important strengthening of passenger rights is that, according to the proposal, passengers should have the right to take on board free of charge one personal item (such as a handbag, backpack, laptop) with a maximum size of 40x30x15 cm and one small hand luggage of up to seven kilograms and 100 centimetres in total dimensions.
At no extra charge, children under 12 years of age should be guaranteed a seat next to their companion and persons with reduced mobility should be allowed to travel with an assistant and receive compensation for loss of or damage to their mobility equipment or injury to their assistance dog.
Multimodal journeys – new rules on protection
The committee also proposes new rules for multimodal journeys comprising various modes of transport within the same contract (e.g. plane-bus-train). If a passenger has bought a single multimodal ticket, they have the right to protection against missed connections and to related assistance.
In the event of delays of 60 minutes or more, passengers must be offered free meals, refreshment, and a hotel stay. Vendors and carriers should be obliged to make it clear to the passenger before the purchase what type of ticket they are buying (single, combined or separate). Failure to do so would make them liable for reimbursement of the ticket and for 75% compensation for missed connections.
Next steps
The proposal is still at the beginning of the legislative process and awaits its first reading in the European Parliament. The regulation will become valid on the 20th day after its publishing in the EU's Official Journal and will be applicable one year after that, while the EU legislators have not yet proposed a more precise date of application.