Air Passenger Rights Regulation arrives but frustrations will remain

As well as adding new destinations to their schedule, airlines have added in endless new tricks, traps and unfair treatment that can make flying and getting redress a frustrating obstacle course for passengers. 

Charges for basic essentials, complicate bookings and pricing and routinely block passengers from exercising their rights to compensation. To the extent that the European Commission estimates only 45% to 50% of passengers entitled to compensation actually claim it. 

Our recent research found out what happened to consumers who had actually tried to assert their legal rights to protection and compensation. They told us they had: 

• Waited over six months to receive a tenth of the compensation they are due for a last minute cancelled flight
• Been denied boarding at the gate due to ‘overbooking’ when they had checked in and had booked seats and boarding passes
• Seen airlines invoking “unfavourable weather conditions” to refuse compensation when the weather was fine
• Received no response to complaint emails or found their complaints marked as resolved when nothing had been done

Will the Air Passenger Regulation mean smoother journeys for  consumers? 

The revision to the Air Passenger Regulation had the chance to tackle these endemic problems and put consumer protection to the top of the packing list. After all, air travel is essential for the EU’s leisure and business economy, and passengers deserve a service that reflects that.

Let’s find out where the compromise text agreed this week has landed and whether we think consumers will be flying high or facing a bumpy ride when they next travel:

Where are air passengers flying high?

Compensation amount and thresholds: The compensation amount consumers are entitled to and the length of delay when this can be claimed has remained unchanged.  This was a hard fought battle with airlines wanting a five hour threshold before compensation requirements would kick in. Euroconsumers is glad to see that compensation amounts (between 250€ and 600€) and threshold (3 hours delay) remain unchanged. 

However, the financial compensation amount has not been updated in decade, which means passengers have already lost out due to inflation and without an indexation mechanism, will continue to do so at a higher proportion. 

Vulnerable passengers: the new Regulation states that vulnerable passengers, for example children under 14, pregnant women and people with disabilities will be entitled to sit with a companion free of charge.  

No-show clause: passengers who missed the outbound leg of their journey can no longer be denied boarding on the return flight, or be charged extras for having missed the first leg. This does away with a situation where passengers who have missed one flight, were punished on the return portion.  

Where are air passengers still in for a bumpy ride? 

Claiming compensation: airlines are now required to provide clear instructions to passengers on how to claim their rights, this is a step in the right direction, but is not enough to improve that European Commission figure of only half of passengers claiming the money they’re due. 

Euroconsumers wanted more simplification like pre-filled claims forms to remove friction, but the Regulation ended up without even a direct link to a form. Without stronger obligations on companies, claiming compensation will remain harder than it should be for flights that are delayed or cancelled.  

Clarifying extraordinary circumstances for refusing compensation claims: the Regulation ended up with a precise  list of the extraordinary circumstances that could exclude airlines paying compensation. Now, only events genuinely outside of the airline’s control will count, so airlines can no longer cite things like their own staff industrial action as a reason not to compensate for cancellations. 

However, the list of circumstances is open-ended and will only be reviewed every five years. We’re concerned this will leave enough wriggle room for airlines to keep on invoking dubious circumstances to avoid paying out on valid claims. 

Where are air passengers still stuck on the tarmac?                       

Hand luggage: this part of the Regulation feels like a shallow victory, rules around charges for hand luggage have been clarified but not in the way passengers are asking for. 

Airlines are now required to show a price upfront that includes hand luggage, which travellers can then opt out of during booking. So, no more low prices to lure in consumers but in practice, passengers are still required to pay extra for cabin baggage that has always been a legitimate and reasonable part of air travel. 

“The transparency in the Air Passenger Regulation on hand luggage pricing is transparency that doesn’t serve consumer rights and interests – instead, it normalises the idea that taking hand luggage is subject to a fee which should not be the case. These kind of pricing strategies chip away at passenger rights long before take-off.”

The so-called transparency in the Air Passenger Rights Regulation on hand luggage pricing is transparency that benefits airlines, not consumers. It doesn’t protect more passengers’ rights but rather legitimises charging extra for something that should be a basic part of every ticket. By accepting these fees instead of banning them, the text normalises unfair pricing practices and sets a dangerous precedent that chips away at passenger rights long before take-off.

Another major flaw is that there is no standard specification for hand luggage which leaves each airline free to impose its own definition of size and weight. Euroconsumers will address this issue in the upcoming Air Services Regulation so that passengers get some genuine clarity and transparency.

A panoramic view on the Air Passenger Rights Regulation 

Overall, Euroconsumers are pleased to see key pillars of passenger rights maintained and basic principles of sitting with children and transparent pricing reinforced. 

But the Regulation missed out on strengthening ease of access to compensation which still puts a great deal of onus on consumers, when they are the ones who’ve lost time, money and journeys through no fault of their own.  We’re also really disappointed that despite the requirement for more transparency on fees the concept of having to pay for hand luggage has been accepted.

Our fight for fair flights continues, and we’ll be watching carefully to see how airlines do or don’t uphold their obligations to passengers.  Access to compensation is access to rights and justice wherever you choose to travel.