Yesterday, the EU Transport Council meeting in Luxembourg adopted a regulatory text declaring its intention to define "clearer and better rules for air passengers" in the European Union. The new measures mainly concern assistance and compensation in the event of delays in connections. In describing the new measures, the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport informed: "Companies will be obliged to adopt a digital and automatic system for requesting reimbursement. The amount of standard compensation increases from 250 to 300 Euros, and up to 500 depending on the length of the journey".

While it is true that the minimum amount of compensation increases from 250 to 300 Euros, the European Consumers' Union Office points out that the change does not bring any real advantage: "The new eligibility thresholds will deprive the majority of passengers of the right to compensation, given that most delays are between 2 and 4 hours". The legislative text, in fact, sees the minimum delay time to receive compensation increase from 3 to 4 hours. Some members of the European People's Party (EPP) -the main political group in Parliament- are also against it: "The EPP Group opposes a weakening of air passenger rights. Reducing air passenger compensation rights would be a step in the wrong direction. Compensation after a three-hour delay has been the standard for many years and should remain so".

As explained in a press release from the EU Transport Council (see AVIONEWS), the new rules on compensation are as follows.

"Compensation varies based on distance:

- journeys of less than 3500 km and intra-EU journeys: compensation applies for delays of more than 4 hours (€300)

- journeys exceeding 3500 km: compensation provided for delays exceeding 6 hours (€500)".

Attached is the Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which defines the previous rules.