EU Moves to Strengthen Flight-Delay Rules While Keeping Cash Payouts Intact

Overview

• EU member-state ambassadors agreed on the draft in early June, which negotiators expect to send to the conciliation committee for final adoption by June 15, 2026.
• The compromise preserves the familiar cash tiers — roughly €250, €400 and €300–€600 depending on distance and length of arrival delay — rather than raising thresholds or cutting amounts.
• New procedural duties in the draft require airlines to send a compensation-claim link within 48 hours of scheduled arrival, state the reason for the disruption and say whether it was an ‘‘extraordinary circumstance,’’ and then pay or explain refusals within 30 days.
• Airline groups warn the measures will raise sector costs sharply — one industry estimate projects current annual costs of about €8.1 billion could rise to more than €15 billion — a change carriers say could affect fares or service to smaller routes.
• Practical enforcement problems remain: passengers often must sue, hire bailiffs or sell claims to firms like AirHelp to collect awards, so the new transparency and deadlines aim to make rights easier to enforce for travelers.