What changed between the plenary report of 13 Jan 2026 and the plenary report of 1 Jul 2026

Added:EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Removed:Recital 3 a (new): (3 a) In line with the objectives of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, an independent peer-reviewed study from 20231a provides robust evidence that the Regulation in its current form is effective in reducing average flight delay times. It finds that this impact is clearly economically important in magnitude and is independent of air carriers’ decisions on scheduled flight duration. It confirms that statistically, the hypothesis of no impact can be very firmly rejected. It insists that its results hold for other measures of flight punctuality (arrival delay and share of ‘‘ontime flights’’), and is robust to alternative specifications. Moreover, it finds that the current Regulation is most effective at delay reduction on routes where competition is low. It underlines that from an economic perspective, the compensation scheme under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 applies the principle that liability should be borne by the party best placed to prevent and manage it at the lowest cost. Air carriers, rather than passengers, would retain control over punctuality through scheduling, maintenance planning, crew and aircraft rotations, and disruption-recovery strategies. By tying liability to arrival delay at the final destination, the Regulation would provide necessary economic incentives for air carriers to reduce the occurrence of long delays and cancellations. The findings of this study support the Union legislator's decision to maintain and render explicit the common three-hour threshold fo…

Added:Background

Removed:Council position

Added:I Procedure

Removed:Recital 5: (5) The concept of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ has been subject to abundant case law of the Court of Justice. Greater clarity should be provided on what constitutes extraordinary circumstances to allow air passenger rights to be effectively and consistently enforced. In the light of the case law, events whose origin is ’internal’ should be distinguished from those whose origin is ’external’ to the operating air carrier. Events should be considered external when they arise from circumstances beyond the air carrier’s control and result from a natural event or an act of a third party. Such external events should be generally qualified as extraordinary circumstances. Events that do not meet these criteria should be deemed internal and should not be qualified as extraordinary circumstances. Such distinction should be further clarified by means of an exhaustive list of circumstances that are clearly identified as capable of being considered as extraordinary. In order to amend the list of extraordinary circumstances, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of making additions, where necessary, to that list. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreem…

Added:Ten meetings of the Parliament’s delegation took place on 28 January 2026, 11 March 2026, 15 April 2026, 20 April 2026, 19 May 2026, 20 May 2026, 2 June 2026, 9 June 2026, 11 June 2026 and 15 June 2026.

Removed:Council position

Added:Four trilogues took place on 23 March 2026, 20 April 2026, 19 May 2026 and 2 June 2026.

Removed:Recital 5 a (new): (5 a) In accordance with the Montreal Convention, obligations on operating air carriers should be limited or excluded in cases where an event has been caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The Court of Justice has provided more details on the meaning and limits of the obligation to take “reasonable measures” in its case-law.

Added:Political agreement on a possible compromise package was reached on 11 June 2026. The Council delegation to the Conciliation Committee endorsed the compromise reached on 12 June.

Removed:Council position

Added:Parliament’s delegation unanimously (27 votes in favour) approved the compromise reached in its meeting on 15 June 2026.

Removed:Recital 6: deleted

Added:In light of those meetings and following an exchange of letters on 12 and 15 June 2026, the Co-Chairs of the Conciliation Committee confirmed by joint letter to the Presidents of the respective institutions that the Committee had reached agreement on a joint text as attached to the letter.

Removed:Council position

Added:II Main points of the agreement reached

Removed:Recital 7: deleted / (deleted)

Added:Time threshold, distances and amounts for compensation

Removed:Council position

Added:Despite proposals from both the Council and the Commission to increase the time thresholds by which the right to compensation starts to apply, Parliament succeeded in maintaining the status quo of the current Regulation. The existing three-hour delay threshold was codified for all flights, and the compensation amounts for cancellations, denied boarding, delays and missed flights of 250, 400, and 600 Euro (depending on flight distances) were upheld.

Removed:Recital 8: deleted / (deleted) / (deleted) / (deleted) / (deleted)

Added:Extraordinary circumstances

Removed:Council position

Added:A non-exhaustive list of examples of extraordinary circumstances was introduced. Parliament insisted that this list strictly follow the caselaw of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Removed:Recital 10: (10) In its judgment in Case C-537/17 (Claudia Wegener v Royal Air Maroc SA)12 on the interpretation of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, the Court of Justice held that Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 applied to a part of any flight which was part of one journey, regardless of where the flight took place, including flights fully operated outside the Union. Building on this judgement and with the aim of establishing a level playing field, when either the initial point of departure is located in the territory of a Member States to which the Treaties apply, or, when the final destination of the journey is located in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaties apply, this Regulation should apply.

Added:At the same time, the Regulation confirms that any extraordinary circumstances must be beyond the control of the airline, directly linked to the flight and that all reasonable measures must have been taken to avoid the disruption in order for the disruption to count as an extraordinary circumstance. Airlines must inform passengers of exactly which extraordinary circumstance they are citing when refusing to pay compensation.

Removed:Council position

Added:Hand baggage

Removed:Recital 11 a (new): (11 a) In the interest of fair international competition and in order to ensure that passengers are protected by a uniform and coherent framework of rights, Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 should apply to all journeys within the Union, as well as to all journeys departing from or arriving in the Union.

Added:Parliament succeeded in introducing greater price transparency on hand baggage. In addition to a personal item, all listings of airfare offers must, by default, include a piece of hand baggage in the price shown. This is to prevent misleading consumers as to the total cost of a journey by only showing additional charges after purchase, and to allow consumers to make an informed choice.

Removed:Council position

Added:Obligation to inform a passenger of the right to compensation

Removed:Recital 12: deleted

Added:Council and Parliament agreed that, after a disruption, airlines have to send information digitally to each passenger about their potential right to compensation and clear instructions on how to claim it. This obligation was not included in the original proposal and will greatly increase passengers’ awareness of their rights.

Removed:Council position

Added:Children sit next to their parents for free and strollers to be brought to the airport door

Removed:Recital 14: (14) In its judgment in Case C-22/11 (Finnair Oyj v Timy Lassooy)13 on the interpretation of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, the Court of Justice held that the concept of ‘denied boarding’ must be interpreted as relating not only to cases where boarding is denied because of overbooking but also to those where boarding is denied on other grounds, such as for operational reasons. Passengers who have presented themselves for boarding and are denied boarding, or who have been informed in advance that they would be denied boarding, against their will, should be reimbursed and compensated without undue delay.

Added:Air carriers must allow children under 14 to sit next to their parents free of charge. Moreover, boarding priority must be given to children in strollers. Strollers will be allowed to be used up to the door of the aircraft and will be returned at the door upon arrival of the flight at the destination.

Removed:Council position

Added:Compensation scheme for persons with disabilities or reduced mobility and unaccompanied minors

Removed:Recital 15: deleted

Added:Parliament succeeded in including a right to compensation and assistance for persons with disabilities or reduced mobility and unaccompanied minors who are delayed or miss connections due to a failure to provide requested assistance (i.e. no wheelchair service between gates).

Removed:Council position

Added:Persons with disabilities or reduced mobility are also entitled to clearer compensation and replacement for equipment damaged during a journey.

Removed:Recital 18: (18) In the case of a cancellation, the choice between receiving reimbursement, continuation of travel by rerouting or travel later on the same day or at a later date should be the decision of the passenger and not that of the air carrier.

Added:No fees for printed boarding passes, no requirement to use an app

Removed:Council position

Added:Parliament introduced the right for passengers to choose to use either a digital or physical boarding pass free of charge. Airlines cannot require a user account or the use of an application to access, use or print a boarding pass or any other information related to this Regulation.

Removed:Recital 18 a (new): (18 a) Where a passenger cancels a flight, air carriers should be obliged to refund, free of charge, taxes which have already been paid.

Added:Union Air Passenger Rights Label and scope

Removed:Council position

Added:A “Union Air Passenger Rights Label” will be created to allow passengers to be better informed when choosing tickets. The label will only appear next to journeys performed by Union carriers, as they are obliged to apply the Regulation when departing from, and arriving in the Union. This will help ensure passengers can choose flight options based on their rights, in addition to price.

Removed:Recital 19: (19) Airport managing bodies at airports with an annual passenger traffic volume of not less than four million passengers for at least three consecutive years and airport essential service providers, in particular air carriers and the suppliers of ground handling services, navigation service providers and assistance providers for disabled passengers and passengers with reduced mobility, should take adequate measures to ensure coordination and cooperation between airport users in order to minimise the impact of multiple flight disruptions on passengers. To this end, airport managing bodies should ensure adequate coordination by means of proper contingency plans for such occurrences and work together with national, regional or local authorities in the development of such plans. Such plans should be assessed and, where necessary, adapted by the National Enforcement Bodies.

Added:Despite Parliament’s insistence, the Regulation maintained the existing scope, applying only to Union-based carriers and journeys originating from the Union. Nevertheless, a review clause was introduced on the potential extension of the scope to non-Union carriers arriving in the Union in the future.

Removed:Council position

Added:No fees for an administrative name-change or a spelling mistake

Removed:Recital 19 a (new): (19 a) Air carriers should set up procedures and coordinated action in order to provide adequate information to stranded passengers. Those procedures should clearly indicate who is responsible at each airport for arranging the care, assistance, re-routing or reimbursement and should set out the processes and conditions for the provision of those services.

Added:Typos and errors in a passenger’s name can now be corrected for free when spotted at least 48 hours before a journey and should not be considered a ground to deny boarding.

Removed:Council position