EU Parliament committee backs air passenger rights reform compromise

BRUSSELS — All the members of the European Parliament sitting on the conciliation committee on the air passenger rights reform confirmed on Monday the compromise reached with countries last week.

The vote in the conciliation committee — a dedicated body created to negotiate a common text between Parliament and the Council — was backed by all 27 MEPs in the committee, the Parliament confirmed in a statement.

The compromise had already been adopted on Friday by member countries, which also supported the text by a broad majority.

The text must next be voted on next month in Parliament’s plenary session. It will enter into force in the second half of 2027.

The reform, aimed at striking a better balance between airlines’ interests and passenger rights, maintains current compensation rules for delayed or canceled flights and introduces new rights for consumers.

“Behind every delay and every cancellation, there are real lives. The three-hour threshold and compensation levels remain,” Andrey Novakov of the European People’s Party, Parliament’s lead negotiator on the reform, said in a statement.

“Parliament was clear from day one: we would modernize the rules, but we would not let passengers pay the price,” said co-negotiator Virginijus Sinkevičius of the Greens.

But the text is frustrating carriers, which argue it will add regulatory burdens and costs.

“There are no winners with this deal,” said Montserrat Barriga, director general of the European Regions Airline Association. According to the lobby, negotiators “rushed a compromise, piling on new obligations that increase costs and complexity without bringing any additional clarity.”

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