Airspeed Read: The future of flight disruption: Proposed reforms to passenger rights
Over 20 years ago, Regulation (EC) No 261/20041 ("EU261") taxied onto the runway on 17 February 2005, promising to make air travel less of gamble for passengers. Since then, EU261 has had a turbulent time. After being reshaped by the European Court of Justice ("CJEU") it is now impossible to understand the rights of air passengers in the event of a delay, cancellation or denied boarding by reading EU261 in isolation. While the interpretative guidelines on EU261, which were first adopted in 2016 and further updated in 2024, are useful in clarifying the scope of EU261, and detail the evolution of passenger rights and obligations since 2005, they are cumbersome and impractical to read alongside EU261.
In 2013, the European Commission published a much-needed proposal to update and reform EU261 to align it with the changes brought about through case law. This proposal went to the European Parliament for a first reading, however, until recently, it has largely sat dormant as the EU Transport Council were either pre-occupied with navigating through and recovering from Covid-19, or were unable to reach a final agreement.
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1 Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/913 , and Regulation (EC) No 2027/97 of the Council of 9 October 1997 on air carrier liability of the carriage of passengers and their baggage by air
