Brussels, 04/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday evening during the plenary session in Strasbourg (codecision, second reading), the European Parliament approved the recommendation of Italian Giorgio Lisi (EPP-ED) on the Council common position relating to the compensation of air passengers if they are denied boarding, if flights are cancelled or if there are long delays. It welcomed the compensation adopted by the Council as it is close to what it had proposed at first reading: - 250 euros for flights of less than 1000 km, 400 for flights between 1000 and 3500 km, and 600 for flights over 3500 km. Furthermore, unlike what was decided at first reading, the Parliament considers that the regulation may also be applied to passengers on package tours.
The Parliament has slightly amended the Council's common position on some points: - passengers must be looked after (meals, refreshments, hotel accommodation) when an air carrier can reasonably foresee a flight delay of two hours for flights of 1500 km at least (instead of less than 3500 km), three hours for intra-Community flights of over 1500 km (instead of 3500 km or more) and four hours for the other flights (the Parliament on the other hand rejected an amendment on the provisions of the common position in the case of flight cancellation); - the possibility of requesting damages for injury caused must also be guaranteed to the tour operator and not just to the air carrier; - the European Commission must report to the Parliament and Council on the progress of the regulation at the latest by 1 January 2007 (instead of 2006); - the regulation will take effect twelve months (instead of three) after it is published in the Official Journal. The Parliament, on the other hand, considers that identical treatment should be applied to users of other forms of transport.