Is the epilogue in sight in the air passengers’ rights file (see EUROPE 13885/2)? With the deadline for an agreement between the EU co-legislators set for 15 June, the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU announced on Friday 12 that an agreement had been reached within the Council of the EU delegation to the Conciliation Committee.
Having received fairly broad support representing more than 80% of member countries, according to a diplomatic source, the Presidency was therefore relatively confident that the European Parliament, which is to meet separately in the Conciliation Committee on Monday 15 June in Strasbourg, would also accept the latest progress, the Presidency having also been in parallel contact with Parliament.
While financial compensation for delays and the deadline for informing air passengers about the means of compensation (an information link would be sent within 96 hours of the incident) were points already more or less agreed between the two parties at the start of the meeting, the Council of the EU still had to determine its position on the policy for hand luggage, personal bags, and wheeled suitcases, or on the exceptional circumstances justifying a limitation of compensation.
On this latter point, it was therefore decided not to include crew illness or aircraft safety problems among the exceptional cases, as these would have been difficult to document and would also have created difficulties for airlines.
As regards hand luggage, whether kept with the passenger, placed under the seat or stored in the overhead compartment, the principle of price transparency was agreed, with airlines required to offer only a single overall ticket price including this hand luggage.
A reduction will be possible if the traveller has no hand luggage.
All airlines will therefore be bound by this harmonised presentation of their ticket prices.
The Cyprus Presidency also knows that legal action could be brought by airlines against this measure. “We nevertheless believe that this measure will make passengers’ travel more predictable and simpler”, a source explained, the aim being above all to allow consumers to compare tickets better when purchasing them and to remedy the problems encountered with the various current search engines when buying a ticket.
The agreement, which could be validated on Monday 15 June, would also regulate the size of bags to be placed under the seat (40 cm/30 cm/15 cm), but no dimensions are set for bags that would go above the seat.
As for compensation for delays, cancellations or other incidents, it will, as expected, range from €250 to €600 for delays of three hours or more: €250 for journeys of 1,500 kilometres or less, €400 for all intra-Union journeys of more than 1,500 kilometres and for all other journeys between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres, and €600 for all other journeys.
Passengers will also be able to choose the form of compensation, between reimbursement and compensation in the form of a voucher.
The new agreement would also prohibit any additional charge for families or friends to sit together.
Proposed in 2013, the reform of the 2004 Regulation establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and of the Regulation on air carriers’ liability, is intended to bring significant clarification and improvements to air passengers’ rights by grouping together all relevant provisions in a single Regulation and by adding additional rights adapted to the new realities of air transport.
While allowing airlines to remain competitive, the aim is to provide passengers with stronger protection against unused flight cancellations, particularly for persons with reduced mobility, pregnant women, and unaccompanied minors, as well as safeguards against missing connections or losing return flights following a missed outbound flight.
The Council of the EU was due to send its letter on Friday evening, 12 June, to Parliament and to the competent parliamentary committee, which is to vote on the draft agreement on 15 June. In the event of a positive outcome, the Cypriot Minister of Transport and the President of the European Parliament would sign a joint letter, thus concluding the conciliation process. On Friday evening, the Spanish Ministry for Consumer Affairs indicated that Spain would oppose the agreement, if confirmed, rejecting the end of free hand luggage and calling for a mechanism to review the financial compensation set 20 years ago.
In a press release, the EPP Group in Parliament has already welcomed the agreement reached within the EU Council on Friday.
Link to the text: https://aeur.eu/f/mbw (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with Mathieu Bion)