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The European Parliament approved on Tuesday the revised EU rules on air passengers, who will continue to benefit from free cabin luggage and will be entitled to financial compensation if flights are delayed by at least three hours.
Almost the entire hemicycle voted in favour of the agreement reached with EU countries after more than a decade of negotiations. The bill was approved with 646 MEPs in favour, 12 against and three abstentions.
European air travellers are currently entitled to compensation of between €250 and €600 if a flight is cancelled or delayed by more than three hours. The new text does not change this provision and specifies that airlines will pay €300 for flights of more than 3,500 kilometres and €600 if the delay exceeds four hours or is cancelled.
Air passengers will have nine months to file a compensation request, while airlines will have 30 days to pay the compensation or invoke extraordinary circumstances to avoid paying.
The rules also clarify the cabin baggage fee policy allowed in the EU. Passengers will still be entitled to a free personal item measuring 40cm by 30cm by 15cm.
As of today, low-cost airlines like Ryanair or EasyJet charge an additional price for small wheeled items, such as a small bag or a backpack.
But with the new regulation, all the airlines are obliged to display on intermediaries and search portals the air fare inclusive of carry-on luggage at the outset of the booking process. However, they may offer cheaper tickets for passengers who choose voluntarily to travel without hand luggage.
Passengers will no longer be charged additional fees for correcting name spelling errors, and they will have the right to obtain boarding passes digitally upon check-in, without any further request or obligation to have a user account or a specific application.
The EU’s passenger protection regulation was opened for revision in 2013 and European lawmakers have been pushing since then for expanded baggage rights and safeguards for passengers in cases of delays, meeting the resistance of some EU countries and the aviation industry.
The new rules will take effect in 2027.
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