NEW rules on the way
On November 29, 2023, the European Commission has proposed an amendment to the Air Regulation (REGULATION (EC) No 261/2004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights).
The proposal involves supplementing the existing rules with new ones. There are no immediate plans to change the rules for e.g. flight compensation.
With the new rules, the EU legislator wants to introduce a kind of “labeling” – or warning system – by introducing an obligation for airlines to regularly publish how good (or bad) they are at complying with the rules in (for example) the Air Regulation. The aim is to allow passengers to make more informed decisions when choosing an airline.
In addition, completely new rules are proposed in cases where travel is purchased through a ticket broker. This is much needed! A large number of our High Court cases – and a single Supreme Court case – right now concern various issues related to the sale of airline tickets through third-party players such as Kiwi.com, Flybillet.dk, Travellink and other ticket intermediaries.
Under the new rules, such ticket intermediaries will, among other things, be obliged to disclose passengers’ contact details to airlines so that passengers can receive all relevant information about their travel (including delays, cancellations, catering, re-routing, refunds and compensation requests) directly from the airline, even if they have booked through a ticket intermediary.
The European Commission also proposes to introduce a new standard form that passengers seeking compensation/expenses can use in the future for reimbursement and compensation. However, there is no requirement to use the form, but if the airline receives a request via such a form, it will not be able to reject it.
Finally, aggregate rights for different modes of transport will be introduced, supplementing the rights passengers already have when traveling on a single mode of transport. The rules will apply when passengers have a single ticket for multiple modes of transport, such as bus, train and plane. It also introduces additional protection rules for travelers with disabilities or reduced mobility.
The new rules must be approved by both the European Parliament and the Council before they are adopted.