On Monday, Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee voted to update EU air passenger rights rules, in force since 2004, to ensure that passengers are sufficiently protected against travel disruption such as denied boarding and delayed or cancelled flights. This vote represents the draft Parliament response to Council’s June 2025 position on air passenger rights.

Standing behind current rights

Transport Committee MEPs reject EU ministers’ push to weaken air passenger rights. They want to maintain air travellers’ right to be reimbursed or re-routed and to claim compensation if a flight is delayed by more than three hours, if it is cancelled, or if they are denied boarding (Council’s position is that compensation should apply only after a four to six hour delay, depending on the flight distance).

The MEPs are also against decreasing the current compensation amounts for flight disruptions and suggest they should be set at between €300 and €600 depending on the flight…