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

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 39 a (new): (39 a) As commercial aviation is an integrated Union market, measures to guarantee enforcement of this Regulation should be more effective at Union level with increased involvement of the Commission. Specifically, the Commission should increase public awareness of compliance by air carriers with passenger rights requirements by publishing a list of carriers that systematically fail to comply with this Regulation.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 44: (44) Having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities20 , and in order to ensure that the damage to, destruction or loss of mobility equipment or the injury to or death of a recognised assistance dog is compensated to its full replacement cost, air carriers should offer to persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility, as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006, the opportunity to make a special declaration of interest free of charge, which pursuant to the Montreal Convention allows them to seek full compensation for loss or damage. Air carriers should inform passengers of that declaration and of the related rights whenever they make a ticket booking.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 46: (46) Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 should ensure its objective of raising standards of protection and of information for passengers, strengthening their rights and ensuring that air carriers operate under harmonised conditions, including hand baggage dimensions. In accordance with the judgement of the Court of Justice in case C-487/12(Vueling Airlines SA v Instituto Galego de Consumo de la Xunta de Galicia Vueling)21, hand baggage (i.e. baggage that is not checked in) should be considered as constituting a ‘necessary aspect’ of the carriage of passengers on condition that such baggage meets ‘reasonable requirements’ in terms of its weight and dimensions, and that its carriage should not, therefore, be made subject to a price supplement. Airlines should also communicate carry-on baggage dimensions clearly to passengers.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 46 a (new): (46 a) Greater clarity should be provided where a personal item or hand baggage is left behind or lost in the aircraft cabin in order to facilitate the handling of such requests, ensuring a streamlined process and preventing any additional burden or miscommunication for passengers.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 47: deleted / (deleted)

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 48: (48) Musical instruments can be of immense monetary, artistic and historical value. Moreover, musical instruments are the tools of musicians’ trade used regularly for rehearsal and performance and cannot be easily replaced. Therefore, passengers should be entitled to carry musical instruments into the cabin under their own responsibility, provided those instruments respect capacity, safety and security rules and the air carrier’s maximum baggage allowance policy. In order to allow the passengers concerned to assess whether their musical instrument can be stored in the cabin, air carriers should inform them about the size of storage facilities. When capacity, safety and security requirements are fulfilled, the air carrier should endeavour to allow passengers to carry musical instruments on additional seats, provided that the corresponding fares have been paid. Where this is not possible, musical instruments should, where possible, be carried under the appropriate conditions in the cargo compartment of the aircraft. Therefore, Regulation (EC) No 2027/97 should be amended accordingly.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 51: deleted

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 52: (52) The Draghi report emphasised the critical role of transport for Union competitiveness. It also outlined the risk of business diversion, resulting from asymmetric regulations, from transport hubs in the Union to hubs in the Union’s neighbourhood. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 applies to passengers departing from an airport located in a third country to an airport situated in the territory of a Member State to which the Treaties apply, only if the operating air carrier of the flight concerned is a Union air carrier. These findings support the Union legislator's decision to revise the scope of this Regulation with a view to further enhancing the level of passengers’ protection and the level playing field between Union and third country air carriers.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 53: (53) The financial protection of passengers in the event of airline failure is a key component of an effective passenger rights regime. In order to strengthen air passengers’ protection in the event of cancellations of flights due to the insolvency of an air carrier or the suspension of an air carrier’s operations due to the revocation of its operating licence, air carriers should be obliged to provide sufficient evidence of security for the reimbursement of passengers or their repatriation.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 53 a (new): (53 a) The creation of a guarantee fund or a compulsory insurance scheme should for example enable air carriers to ensure that passengers can be reimbursed or repatriated when their flights are cancelled due to the insolvency of an air carrier or the suspension of its operations as the result of the revocation of its operating licence.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 54: deleted

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 55: deleted

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 55 a (new): (55 a) This Regulation respects fundamental rights and observe the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, notably consumer protection, the right to protection of personal data, the prohibition of any form of discrimination and the integration of persons with disabilities, the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 55 b (new): (55 b) In order to improve air passenger protection beyond Union borders, such rights should also be addressed in bilateral and international agreements.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Recital 55 c (new): (55 c) Specific facilities for severely disabled passengers requiring changing and toilet facilities (so-called 'changing places') should be provided at no cost to the passenger at all Union airports with an annual passenger traffic volume of more than one million passengers.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point a, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new): (c a) "airport managing body" means a body which, in conjunction with other activities or not as the case may be, has as its objective under national laws, regulations or contracts the administration and management of the airport or airport network infrastructures and the coordination and control of the activities of the different operators present in the airports or airport network concerned;

Removed:Council position

Removed:Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point a, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point f a (new): (f a) “cost of the air ticket” means final price to be paid at the end of the reservation process that includes the air fare and all applicable taxes, charges, surcharges and fees paid for all optional and non-optional services included in the ticket, excluding intermediation fees, regardless whether those extras and fees have been paid together with the fares for the transport service or separately at a later stage;

Removed:Council position

Removed:Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point a, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point f b (new): (f b) "reservation" means the fact that the passenger has a ticket, or other proof, which indicates that the reservation has been accepted and registered by the air carrier or organiser;

Removed:Council position

Removed:Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point b, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point g: deleted

Removed:Council position

Removed:Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point c, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point i: (i) “person with disabilities” and “person with reduced mobility” mean any person whose mobility when using transport is reduced due to any physical disability (sensory or locomotor, permanent or temporary), intellectual disability or impairment, or any other cause of disability, or age, and whose situation needs appropriate attention and the adaptation to his or her particular needs of the service made available to all passengers;

Removed:Council position

Removed:Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point c, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point j: (j) “denied boarding” means a refusal to carry passengers on a flight, although they have presented themselves for boarding under the conditions laid down in Article 4(1), or where they were informed in advance that they will be denied boarding against their will.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point c, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point l – point i: (i) the aircraft took off but, for whatever reason, either diverted to an airport other than the airport of arrival indicated on the ticket, or returned to the airport of departure, and could not continue to the airport of arrival indicated on the ticket, or

Removed:Council position

Removed:Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point c, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point l – point ii: (ii) a passenger has been issued a ticket for a flight and the time of departure indicated on the passenger’s ticket has been brought forward by more than one hour.

Removed:Council position

Removed:Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point d, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point o: (o) “delay at arrival” means the difference in time between the time of arrival indicated on the passenger’s ticket and the actual time of arrival of the flight; a flight where the aircraft took off but was subsequently forced to return to the airport of departure and took off again at a later time is considered to be delayed at arrival;

Removed:Council position

Removed:Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point d, Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point p: (p) “class of transport” means a part of the passenger cabin of the aircraft characterised by either a specific code indicated in the air transport contract or a combination of different seats, a different seat configuration and other differences in the service, such as specific catering, provided to passengers compared to other parts of the cabin;