After COVID travel chaos, EU Commission aims to boost passenger rights

The European Commission tabled an update to passenger rights rules on Wednesday (29 November) in a bid to prevent a repeat of the confusion and frustration experienced by passengers during the COVID-19 pandemic travel disruption.

The new rules put forward by the Commission – which includes new passenger rights initiatives and an update of the package travel directive – seek to better enforce existing rules, while putting in place updated measures to make the process of seeking reimbursement or compensation easier.

While EU travellers already enjoy some of the most robust passenger protections in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic – which saw mass flight cancellations as countries shuttered borders in an effort to stop the spread of the virus – exposed weaknesses.

Passengers faced a confusing web of bureaucracy in claiming refunds, with a lack of clarity as to what they were entitled to.

Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice, said that the COVID-19 pandemic was a reminder of the importance of guaranteeing strong consumer rights.

“During the pandemic, consumers faced mass cancellations or struggles as regards refunds from tour operators and travel agencies for cancelled packages,” he said, adding that these shortcomings led to the Commission deciding “to step up protection for travellers”.

Under the measures, a standard reimbursement and compensation form will be introduced by the European Commission, which will be available in all official EU languages. While passengers are not obliged to use this form, all airlines are required to accept them.

Those who booked tickets using different transport modes within the same journey will also benefit from new protections in case one leg is delayed, such as reimbursement or rerouting.

Carriers will additionally be required to publish reports detailing how successfully they are implementing passenger rights, while national passenger rights enforcement agencies will be strengthened.

Intermediaries

Much of the package is focused on improving passenger rights for those who booked through intermediaries – third-party ticket vendors that often offer price comparisons between airlines.

During the pandemic, passengers reportedly struggled to identify who to contact for reimbursements, with airlines and ticket vendors pointing the finger at each other.

Under the new rules, airlines will be required to provide passengers with clear information regarding redress in the case of delays and cancellations, even if the ticket was booked through a third party.

This includes whom to contact and how the reimbursement procedure will be carried out. If the reimbursement is processed via an intermediary, passengers must receive their refund within 14 days.

The passenger mobility package also includes new rules on package travel, partly prompted by the bankruptcy of the travel group Thomas Cook in 2019. The new measures aim to better protect travellers against insolvency and to speed up refund periods.

The total deposit for packages will also be capped at 25% of the package price to limit the potential for lost funds.

The package also seeks to make travel easier for people with disabilities. People with reduced mobility who switch from one transport mode to another during their journey will be given assistance at connecting points by carriers and also at multimodal hubs, such as airports that include a train station.

If an airline requires a disabled person to travel with a companion, they are obliged to transport the accompanying person for free.

Reactions

While welcoming some aspects, BEUC, a consumer rights organisation, criticised the package for not going far enough. The consumer group questioned the lack of insolvency protection in the case airlines go bankrupt, and said the new measures rules do not provide assurances to passengers faced with cancelling a ticket in times of crisis.

Ursula Pachl, BEUC Deputy Director General, said that “well-known and long-standing issues detrimental to travellers… have not been addressed” by the package, calling it “a small step in the right direction”.

The European Disability Forum, a group representing disabled Europeans, called the package insufficient, saying it will “leave passengers with disabilities still living ‘waking nightmares’ when flying”.

Gunta Anca, the European Disability Forum’s vice-president, said that the Commission missed an opportunity to fix serious problems.

“The Commission’s reasoning for not addressing our concerns mirrors the experiences persons with disabilities have with airlines: being left on the ground with an arbitrary excuse,” said Anca.

Lobby group Airlines for Europe (A4E) called today’s proposal “a tentative step in bringing coherence to the tangled web of passenger rights in Europe” though said more should be done to improve clarity.

“On the one hand, there are positive moves to providing more clarity to passengers and airlines, particularly on multimodal transport and on the obligations on what information intermediaries must provide to airlines,” said Ourania Georgoutsakou, A4E managing director.

“On the other hand, the fog of uncertainty over what is an extraordinary circumstance has not been lifted which would have made processing claims more seamless and unclogged legal systems across Europe,” she added.

The European Commission proposals will now go to the European Parliament and Council for scrutiny.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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