The European Council and the European Parliament have agreed to maintain free cabin luggage and financial compensation for delayed flights under the bloc’s air passenger rights rules after more than a decade of negotiations.
Under the rules, air passengers will continue to benefit from free cabin luggage and will be entitled to financial compensation if flights are delayed by at least three hours – a key demand from the European Parliament that was resisted by several EU countries.
“The fees that need to be paid are the same as those known for airlines for almost 20 years now. It’s a situation that gives predictability,” one EU senior diplomat told reporters on Friday, after the deal was struck.
European air travellers are already entitled to compensation of between €250 and €600 if a flight is cancelled or delayed by more than three hours. The new text backed by EU co-legislators clarifies that airlines will pay €300 on flights of more than 3,500 kilometres and €600 if the delay exceeds four hours or ends up being cancelled.
The rules also spell the end of cabin baggage fees, a common practice among low-cost airlines like Ryanair or EasyJet. Passengers will now be entitled to both a free personal item measuring 40cm by 30cm by 15cm and a small wheeled item with a maximum total dimension of 100cm and a weight of up to 7kg.
Once the new law kicks in in 2027, airlines must therefore bundle both a small personal item and a larger carry-on suitcase into their standard ticket price.
While this change will likely increase initial ticket prices, especially for budget carriers that currently charge extra for overhead bags, travellers who choose to fly without a suitcase can opt out to receive a reduced fare.
Consumer groups have argued that charging for cabin bags is illegal, especially via practices followed by low-cost airlines, and that air travellers should have the right to claim compensation linked to delays.
However, some airlines have been rushing to charge for cabin baggage in recent months, citing financial losses due to soaring jet fuel prices linked to disruptions in the Middle East.
The deal was agreed on Friday by EU ambassadors and the EU Cypriot Presidency, which is presiding over the EU Council until the end of June. The Parliament will send the final confirmation and joint letter backing the deal to the Presidency on Monday afternoon, officially closing the legislative file.
The new rules will take effect in 2027.
Decade-long talks
The EU’s passenger protection regulation was opened for revision in 2013.
European lawmakers have spent the ensuing negotiations pushing for expanded baggage rights and safeguards for passengers in cases of airline bankruptcy, but some EU countries and the aviation industry have resisted.
Lithuanian Green MEP Virginijus Sinkevičius recalled that when the air passenger rights law was adopted in 2004, it was “simply not designed” for the current reality, where air passenger traffic boomed.
“Ryanair carried roughly 23 million passengers per year,” he recalled. “In 2024, it carried over 183 million – nearly eight times more. Wizz Air did not yet exist. EasyJet was a niche operator. Low-cost carriers now represent a dominant share of intra-European aviation, and they have built business models specifically around unbundling services that were once standard and charging separately for each one.”
One EU diplomat agreed, saying that “the old rules no longer delivered expectations” and that the revision of the law “was no longer optional but a necessity”.
Previous negotiations saw EU member states move to raise the threshold for financial compensation linked to cancelled flights from three to four hours, with Germany, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain among the EU countries opposed to the change.
During the past decade’s talks, airlines have lobbied for compensation entitlement to kick in only after at least five hours, to reflect real operational issues and to avoid a situation where operators cancel flights altogether simply to avoid penalties.
Airlines claimed that the burden imposed by the draft law would dramatically hamper their ability to compete in the market, arguing that delays are beyond their control and are linked to technical issues at airports.
But the EU Parliament ultimately won the battle, and the three-hour threshold remains in place.