Possible deterioration of flight compensation rules on the way

On Thursday, June 5, 2025, there will be a meeting of the EU Transport Council on the “Aircraft Regulation” (Regulation 261/2004).

Here, the individual countries’ transport ministers will vote on a proposal that will lead to major deterioration of air passenger rights in the EU. Among other things, the deadlines for flight compensation will be significantly extended to 5, 9 and 12 hours (depending on how far you have to fly).

Today, you are entitled to flight compensation if your flight is delayed for 3 hours or more, but in the future you may be stranded for up to 12 hours without the right to flight compensation.

The right to flight compensation serves as an important incentive mechanism for airlines to minimize delays and ensure high operational standards. Modern and well-maintained aircraft mean fewer spontaneous cancellations and delays due to technical failures and – of course – also benefit flight safety.

At Flyadvokaten, we fight not only to keep the rules as they are now, but to ensure that you have even better rights when traveling. Among other things, we believe that flight compensation should increase, as the compensation amount has remained the same for more than 20 years. In other words, the value of flight compensation for you today is – in other words – only 60% of what it was when the Air Regulation came into force.

We also believe that airlines have the financial shoulders to give you a “sticking plaster” if you are delayed. Last year, for example, Ryanair made a profit of DKK 12 billion, while British Airways made a profit of DKK 38 billion and Norwegian made a profit of DKK 1.2 billion.

Therefore, we are – on an almost daily basis – in dialog with both Danish and European politicians to shed light on the current amendment. Among other things, we have pointed out that the socio-economic perspectives of the proposal from the European Commission have not been included (let alone calculated), despite the fact that airline cancellations and delays cost society up to USD 67.5 billion globally every year.

We believe that it would be a serious legislative mistake to adopt a proposal that is so underexposed.

We will keep you updated on the legislative work here in the blog and continue to fight for your
rights.