EU Fliers Will Get New Free Cabin Bags And Clearer Delay Payouts

8 hours ago 1

The European Council and European Parliament have agreed on flight delay compensation and cabin bag rules.

The decision comes a decade after negotiations began with the two EU bodies to deliver what Minister for Transport, Communications, and Works in the Republic of Cyprus, Alexis Vafeades, called “certainty, fairness and stronger protection for millions of European air passengers”.

It means that those travelling within the EU will have more “predictable” expenses, an EU diplomat shared.

So what does the new ruling mean?

Are cabin bags free on EU flights now?

The new ruling means that EU passengers will now be entitled to two free pieces of cabin luggage:

a 40x30x50cm personal item, a small wheeled item with combined dimensions no greater than 1m and a weight no heavier than 7kg, per Euronews.

This means that carry-on luggage fees, currently used by some airlines like Ryanair and easyJet, will be banned within the travel bloc when the ruling comes into force.

What does this rule mean for delay compensation fees?

EU passengers are already entitled to fees between €250-€600 (£216-£519) for flights delayed by more than three hours.

This rule clarifies that European fliers should get:

€300 (£259) for delayed flights more than 3,500 km, and €600 (£519) for delays longer than four hours or that result in a flight cancellation.

“The fees that need to be paid are the same as those known for airlines for almost 20 years now,” a diplomat shared of the new rules.

When will these changes be implemented?

These new rules are set to come into place in 2027.

They were opposed by several EU nations before a deal was agreed by the EU ambassadors and the Cypriot presidency of the Council last week.

Will this increase EU ticket prices?

Lots of airlines seem to think so. EasyJet, for instance, previously labelled the additional free cabin luggage rule “lunatic”, saying it would raise ticket prices and be “terrible for the customer”.

Per The Guardian, Kenton Jarvis, easyJet’s chief executive, said it could even lead to delays: “There just isn’t the space in the cabin, so that’s another lunatic idea. We would go back to the days of having to offload cabin bags and put them in the hold – it was one of the number one causes of delayed boarding in the old days.”

Time will tell if his fears are borne out.