There’s possibly some seriously bad news ahead for air passengers, as Europe moves toward changes in its EU261 passenger rights rules. The changes most discussed so far are limits on compensation for delayed and canceled flights, a victory for airlines, but they don’t stop there.
The changes also include new limits and definitions for carry-on baggage, reducing passenger rights to a bag that can fit under a seat, where most airlines have allowed full carry-on size bags before. Court cases in the EU have established that passengers have a right to free carry-on bags, but the size has never before been defined. If the new regulation is not altered, everything bigger than an underseat bag may be subject to fees.
Final approval, now that the European Council and Commission have approved, is in the hands of the European Parliament. The changes have been strongly pushed by Poland, but at least on the baggage issue there is strong opposition from Germany, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.
Other changes include legalizing more charges for seat assignments and allowing airlines to automatically cancel the return half of a round trip if the passenger misses the outbound flight.
Image: Bic/Wikimedia Commons
As the headline says: Bad News!!!