Air transport: The 27 EU countries agree to reduce passenger compensation for delays.

Airlines are about to receive a nice gift from the European Union. Transport ministers from the 27 member states, meeting in Luxembourg this Thursday , agreed to reduce passenger compensation for flight delays . The agreement, the subject of tough negotiations between member states, is now to be discussed in the European Parliament .

Passengers can currently claim up to €600 for a delay of more than three hours, a rule adopted more than twenty years ago. But airlines regularly complain about an excessive financial burden—estimated at €8.1 billion annually by the European Commission. To give them some breathing room, a majority of member states voted to change the rules, despite opposition from Germany.

For flights up to 3,500 kilometers, as well as for all intra-European flights, passengers would be entitled to a refund of €300 for delays of four hours or more. For longer journeys, passengers would receive €500 for delays of six hours or more.

Consumer associations have criticized this measure. "The new eligibility thresholds will deprive the majority of passengers of their compensation rights, given that most delays are between 2 and 4 hours," denounced the European Consumer Organisation.

However, the compromise did not satisfy the airlines. The Airlines for Europe (A4E) association, which includes Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, Ryanair, and easyJet, criticized the text for introducing "even more complexity" compared to the European Commission's initial proposal.

European leaders, for their part, highlighted "more than 30 new rights" for passengers, applicable between the time they purchase their ticket and the time they arrive at their destination, Polish Minister Dariusz Klimczak welcomed. French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said he was "pleased with the compromise" reached by the EU, in a message on the X network.

He cited several concrete advances, including enhanced rights for passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility and an automatic compensation mechanism in the event of flight cancellation. "This text could have been more ambitious, but it is an important step in continuing to improve the quality of service offered to air transport users," he added.