EU Air Passenger Rights: European Commission Revises Guidelines

The European Commission on Monday released revised guidelines on air passenger rights designed to improve compliance and standardize enforcement across national bodies.

Since 2016, the Commission has issued guidelines to address concerns from national enforcement bodies, passengers, and industry representatives. The updated guidelines incorporate rulings from the Court of Justice since 2016, which clarify certain provisions for more consistent rule enforcement. A new section addressing major travel disruptions has also been included.

Additionally, the revised guidelines cover the rights of individuals with disabilities and reduced mobility when traveling by air.

Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner for Climate Action and Transport, said that the EU remains unique globally in providing comprehensive passenger rights protection.

Photo source: European Parliament

The release of the new guidelines coincides with the EU’s latest Eurobarometer survey, which reveals that while awareness of passenger rights has improved over the past five years, many Europeans still feel inadequately informed.

“The new guidelines will assist citizens, as today’s Eurobarometer shows that awareness of their rights remains incomplete,” Hoekstra said.

The revised guidelines can be found here.

New Eurobarometer survey

According to the latest Eurobarometer survey, 73 percent of respondents in the EU27 reported using at least one mode of transport in the past 12 months.

Of these, 52 percent used local urban transport (trams, buses, metro, etc.), 33 percent used rail transport, 23 percent used air transport, 14 percent used coach transport (excluding local or urban bus services), and 8 percent used ship or ferry services.

Source: European Commission

Awareness of passenger rights is highest for rail transport at 33 percent, followed by air transport at 30 percent, coach transport at 27 percent, and ship or ferry services at 16 percent. Additionally, the majority of respondents reported seeing information about their rights at railway stations (9 percent), airports, and on trains (8 percent).

The survey found that 47 percent of rail travelers experienced at least one disruption in the past year, with the most common issue being a departure delay of one to two hours. For air travelers, 30 percent experienced disruptions, with 16 percent reporting departure delays of two hours or more.

Source: European Commission

Ships and ferries were noted as relatively reliable, with only 12 percent of passengers facing at least one disruption over the past year.

Source: European Commission

On a positive note, 35 percent of travelers have encountered information about passenger rights, an increase of 13 percentage points since 2019.

Conducted between January 12 and February 4, 2024, the Eurobarometer survey included interviews with 26,601 citizens. The polling tool regularly assesses public opinion on various EU-related issues.