The European Parliament has approved new rules for air passengers.

However, the most important aspects – namely the amounts and rules governing the payment of financial compensation – remain unchanged.

• Compensation for delays of three hours or more
• amounts of €250, €400 and €600 depending on the flight’s duration
• entitlement to care during long waits
• Entitlement to re-routing or a refund in the event of a cancelled flight

However, airlines will now have to keep passengers better informed, respond more quickly to requests, display ticket prices more clearly – including baggage charges – and seat children next to their parents at no extra charge.

Check your entitlement to compensation

When will the new rules come into force?

The European Parliament approved the text on 7 July 2026, but the legislative process is not yet fully complete.

The official text of the regulation can be found on theeuroparl.europa.eu website.

Next steps:

1. legal and linguistic review of the text
2. formal approval by the Council of the EU
3. signature by the European Parliament and the Council
4. publication in the Official Journal of the EU
5. entry into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal
6. one-year transition period – during this time, individual Member States must transpose these rights into their national legislation

The rules will not come into force until 12 months after they enter into force, i.e. most likely in the second half of 2027.

It is therefore not yet possible to specify an exact date. This will only be known once the final text has been published in the Official Journal of the EU.

Until then, the current EU Regulation 261 continues to apply.

What’s changing, in a nutshell?

Area	What’s new
Flight delays	Compensation will now be payable from 3 hours at the destination
Amount of compensation	Remains at €250, €400 or €600
Flight cancellation	You are still entitled to a refund or re-routing
Compensation claims	The airline must respond within 30 days
Informing passengers	The airline must provide clear information about the entitlement
Care whilst waiting	Meals, drinks, internet access and hotel accommodation are specified in more detail
Children	Children under 14 must sit next to their accompanying adult at no extra charge
Luggage	Prices should be clearer at the time of booking
Return tickets	The airline must not automatically cancel the return journey simply because the outbound flight was not taken
Passengers with reduced mobility	Rights to assistance and protection of luggage are being strengthened

Compensation for delays remains applicable from 3 hours

European compensation for delayed flights is not being abolished, restricted or increased.

The right to financial compensation remains in the event of:

• arrival at the destination more than 3 hours late
• flight cancellation less than 14 days before departure
• denial of boarding

It is the delay at the final destination that is decisive, not the late departure itself.

If the flight departs 3 hours and 20 minutes late but arrives at the destination only 2 hours and 55 minutes late, there is no entitlement to compensation.

How much will you receive for a delayed flight?

The amount of compensation depends on the flight duration:

Flight duration	Compensation
up to 1,500 km	250 eur
1,500–3,500 km	400 eur
over 3,500 km	600 eur

For the longest flights, compensation may in some cases be reduced by 50 per cent, for example if passengers arrive at their destination with only a minor delay following a re-routing.

We cover this in detail in the article ‘How to claim compensation for a delayed flight’.

When is an airline not obliged to pay compensation?

Even after the change, an exception remains for extraordinary circumstances.

An airline is not obliged to pay financial compensation if it can prove that the delay or cancellation was caused by circumstances beyond its control.

Typically, this may include, for example:

• extreme weather
• a security risk
• war or political instability
• a natural disaster
• unruly passengers
• certain strikes not involving the airline
• air traffic control restrictions

The key word here is ‘demonstrate’.

It is not enough to simply write ‘extraordinary circumstances’. The airline must explain what happened, why it affected that particular flight, and why it could not be prevented.

The airline will have to keep you better informed

One of the most practical changes concerns communication.

At present, passengers often do not even know that they are entitled to compensation. Airlines sometimes send a vague message, or send nothing at all.

From now on, they will have to send passengers clear information about their rights and how to claim compensation.

In the event of a disrupted flight, the airline must inform passengers electronically no later than 96 hours after the end of the journey.

It should not be necessary to create an account with the airline or download its app just to access this information.

Compensation claims are to be processed more quickly

Another change: airlines will have to process claims within a clearer timeframe.

Once a claim has been submitted, the airline must:

• confirm receipt of the claim
• either pay the compensation or clearly explain why it is refusing it
• a response must be providedwithin 30 days

This may be a bigger change for passengers than the retention of the amounts themselves.

The biggest problem is usually not that the passenger is not entitled to compensation. The problem tends to be that they do not know where to write, what evidence to provide, or how long to wait.

Check your entitlement to compensation

Rerouting on better terms: within 3 hours

In the event of a cancelled flight or denied boarding, you retain the right to choose:

• a refund
• re-routing as soon as possible
• re-routing at a later date, if that suits you

The new rules are intended to clarify what an airline must do if a passenger is left stranded at the airport due to a cancelled flight.

The airline must come up with a solution within 3 hours of the flight being cancelled or boarding being denied.

However, please note: the airline must offer a solution to the situation within 3 hours, not necessarily the re-routing itself. This may well take several hours or even until the following day. In that case, however, you are entitled to financial compensation as outlined above.

If the airline does not offer a reasonable solution, the passenger should be in a stronger position to arrange alternative transport.

In practice, this could involve, for example:

• another flight with the same airline
• a flight with a different airline
• a different route
• in some cases, even a different mode of transport

Passengers can now book a replacement flight themselves and subsequently claim reimbursement from the original airline.

However, the costs must always be reasonable. If a standard alternative flight is available for €180, it will be difficult to justify a business class ticket costing €1,200.

In my view, this passage is probably the least clearly defined and is likely to be the subject of various legal disputes.

Food, drink, internet and accommodation during long delays

In reality, not much has changed; the rules are simply described more precisely and clearly.

Passengers are entitled to:

• refreshments every 2 hours of waiting
• a meal after 3 hours
• another meal every 5 hours
• a maximum of 3 meals a day
• internet access
• 2 phone calls
• a hotel, if an overnight stay is necessary
• transport between the airport and the hotel

Accommodation is limited to a maximum of 3 nights.

If the airline does not arrange for assistance, the passenger may arrange it themselves and claim reimbursement. However, the principle of reasonableness applies here too.

Book the nearest hotel to the airport

Luggage: the price shown includes a standard piece of hand luggage

This is the most anticipated and also the most controversial change.

All airlines must display a base fare that includes a standard-sized piece of hand luggage. And not just a personal bag that fits under the seat in front of you.

The change is primarily aimed at transparency.

Passengers should now be able to see more clearly, when selecting a ticket, how much they will pay for their journey, including standard carry-on luggage.

Prices should be easier to compare between airlines and travel agents.

This is particularly important for low-cost airlines.

A ticket may look cheap, but once you’ve added a piece of hand luggage, chosen a seat and checked in, the difference compared to a more expensive airline often disappears.

• Currently: airlines always quote the price for the cheapest possible fare (often including only a small personal item)
• From 2027: airlines will always have to display the cheapest price including a standard piece of hand luggage

However, an airline may still offer a cheaper fare that includes only a small rucksack or laptop bag, etc. It is simply not allowed to list this fare as the cheapest in search engines.

Will there be a standardised size for hand luggage across the EU?

The original proposal envisaged standardising the dimensions of luggage that you take on board an aircraft:

• Personal item:40 x 30 x 15 cm
• Standard cabin bag:total dimensions up to 100 cm and weight up to 7 kg

However, the exact dimensions do not appear in the currently approved version, and it seems that each airline may continue to have its own slightly different dimensions.

End of automatic cancellation of return flights

The new rules also address the so-called ‘no-show’ rule.

An airline will not be allowed to automatically cancel a passenger’s return flight simply because they did not take the first leg of the journey.

A typical example:

• you buy a Prague–Madrid–Prague ticket
• you end up not taking the outbound leg
• but you do want to fly back from Madrid to Prague

Under the new rules, the airline will not be allowed to automatically cancel your return flight simply because you did not board the first flight.

This can be very useful for return tickets, which are sometimes cheaper than one-way tickets.

Children under 14 must sit next to their parents free of charge

A major change for families.

Airlines will have to ensure that a child under 14 sits next to an accompanying adult at no extra cost.

However, this does not mean you can choose any seat on the plane for free.

It means that the airline must not separate a family simply because they have not paid extra for seat selection.

This mainly applies to low-cost airlines, where paying for seat selection is a standard part of the booking process.

• Previously: some airlines (such as Ryanair) required passengers to pay extra for a specific seat for an adult, after which the child would automatically be seated next to them free of charge.
• New rule: children under 14 travelling with one adult must always be seated next to each other free of charge

Correcting a name error at no extra cost

From now on, airlines are not allowed to charge a fee for changing a name if you have made a mistake in it.

Typically, however, this applies to a maximum of three incorrect letters in the name, which you will be able to correct free of charge.

This does not apply to changing the entire name!

Better rights for passengers with reduced mobility

The rights of passengers with a disability or reduced mobility are also being strengthened.

The most important changes:

• if a passenger misses a flight due to inadequate assistance at the airport, they are automatically entitled to compensation in the same way as for a cancelled or delayed flight
• passengers with reduced mobility must be allowed to sit with an accompanying person on the aircraft at no extra charge

Which flights do the rules apply to?

The scope of the rules is not expected to change significantly.

The European rules mainly apply to:

• all flights departing from an EU airport (including airlines based outside the EU)
• flights from countries outside the EU to the EU, provided they are operated by a European airline

What remains the same?

To avoid confusion, it is worth pointing out what remains the same.

The following still applies:

• not every delay automatically entitles you to compensation
• it is the delay at the destination that counts
• exceptional circumstances may preclude compensation
• you may still be entitled to meals or hotel accommodation even if you are not entitled to the €250–600

Passengers often get this wrong.

Financial compensation is one thing. Care whilst waiting is another. A refund or a replacement flight is a third matter.

Summary

The European Parliament has approved new rules on air passenger rights.

For ordinary passengers, the most important thing is that compensation for delays of 3 hours or more remains in place. The amounts of €250, €400 and €600, depending on the flight duration, also remain.

The new rules are intended to be clearer. Airlines will have to provide better information, respond more quickly to requests, treat families with children more fairly, and display ticket prices – including baggage charges – more clearly.

Following approval by the European Parliament, the rules must still be formally approved by the Council of the EU, signed and published in the Official Journal of the EU. Only then will the one-year transition period begin.

The exact date of entry into force is therefore not yet known.