Final negotiations on EU air passenger rights are now coming to a head in Brussels, with Member States and the European Parliament locked in last‑stage talks.
For over two decades, the so-called EU261 rules – some of the most ambitious globally – have aimed to give travellers certainty when flights are delayed or cancelled. The principle is right and widely supported. The reality, however, tells a different story, as a lack of clarity in the regulation has led to countless legal cases, meaning reform was much needed.
The decisions now taken in the coming weeks will affect every traveller in Europe – and unless lawmakers are careful, the reform will end up sounding tough on paper while failing passengers in practice.
Penalised for reality: why the three-hour rule is backfiring on passengers
At the heart of the current debate for reform lies the so-called delay threshold, where passengers are compensated for delays longer than three hours.
The law didn’t set this rule – it was decided later in court, and it never matched how tight airline schedules operate in reality. Nor has it been broadly effective in reducing delays, as air-traffic delays jumped 114% in the past 10 years (IATA 2025).
No one disputes that passengers deserve protection – ultimately, airlines want to get customers to their destination on time. Compensation for delays or cancellations due to poor airline planning or staff failures is fair and necessary. The hard reality is that most delays are outside the direct control of airlines, and the reason for a delay doesn’t always have a fast fix.
Technical problems, for example, are not quick fixes. Even routine aircraft repairs often take most of the working day before the aircraft can safely take off. You can’t rush safety checks, and no passenger would want that either.
When an aircraft is grounded, airlines must organise a replacement plantee and crew, often from another city or country. That means coordinating pilots, cabin crew, fuel, baggage, and boarding. In real life, this typically takes closer to five hours, not three.
The result is a paradox: rules designed to protect passengers can actually make delays longer. A more realistic delay threshold would not weaken rights. It would help reduce the longest and most disruptive delays – the ones passengers hate most – by up to 40%.
Let there be no mistake about it: like passengers, airlines want to arrive on time. We have no reason to delay and every reason to minimise them. Every minute of delay costs airlines approximately €127 (Eurocontrol,2025), while the average profit per passenger is just around €8 (IATA, 2024).
Who is really paying? The €15 billion question
There is another uncomfortable truth: compensation is ultimately paid for by passengers themselves.
Today, the cost of compensation under EU rules amounts to 8 billion euro each year. Those costs are built into ticket prices, meaning even passengers who never experience disruption end up paying more.
Under proposals currently on the table, total costs could almost double – rising towards €15 billion. That would inevitably feed through into higher fares at a time when many households are already feeling the pressure of rising travel costs.
The “free” additional cabin bag is a good example of a measure that sounds appealing on paper but ultimately works against passengers. It removes consumer choice, obliges everyone to pay for an extra bag – even those who don’t need it – and pushes up the overall carbon footprint.
If costs almost double, then compensation expenses must be shared fairly among all parties involved in getting passengers to their destination – not just the airline. Air traffic controller shortages, long border control queues, airports shut down by drones – all of these are problems airlines didn’t cause and cannot fix.
Passengers deserve protection, but good intentions don’t always deliver good results. What is really needed is a flexible and pragmatic deal rules, in tune with the reality of flying across Europe and globally in an increasingly unpredictable world.
Ourania Georgoutsakou is the Managing Director of Airlines for Europe (A4E), which represents the united voice of 16 leading European airline groups in Brussels, accounting for over 80% of European air traffic.
