EU set to reform flight compensation regulations
The European Union plans to raise flight delay compensation thresholds to four hours for short-haul and six for long-haul, while adjusting payout amounts
Under new proposals, airline passengers on short-haul flights within the European Union (EU) will only be eligible for compensation after a delay of four hours or more – a notable increase from the current three-hour threshold. For long-haul flights, compensation will begin from delays of six hours.
The EU is also adjusting the compensation amounts. Short-haul flight compensation will increase from €250 to €300, while long-haul payouts will drop from €600 to €500.
Airlines for Europe (A4E), which had advocated for even longer thresholds before compensation is due, expressed disappointment that the delay periods weren’t extended further.
Ourania Georgoutsakou, Managing Director of A4E, said: “Rather than providing delay thresholds of five and nine hours that would save up to 70% of rescuable cancelled flights, member states have diluted the European Commission’s original proposal.”
The Commission had originally proposed raising the compensation thresholds to five hours for short-haul and nine hours for long-haul delays.
Nearly 218,000 departing flights across Europe were either cancelled or delayed by more than three hours in 2024, according to data from Skycop.
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