European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee has voted overwhelmingly in favour of new EU rules to strengthen passenger rights, including no extra charges for hand luggage or child seats, a unified reimbursement form and defined protections for intermodal travel. The reforms also enhance transparency from ticket sellers and bolster safeguards for vulnerable travellers.
On Tuesday, the committee voted by 38 to 2, with two abstentions, to improve enforcement of passenger rights across airlines and ticket agents. The proposals include a standardised form for compensation and reimbursement claims, which carriers must pre-fill and dispatch within 48 hours of a disruption.
Ticket sellers, including intermediaries, will be required to inform customers at booking time of all fees and reimbursement timelines—14 days for sellers, and a further seven days for carriers if intermediaries fail to comply.
Reducing airlines’ “extraordinary circumstances” loophole
MEPs adopted a list of strictly defined exceptions (natural disasters, war, severe weather or unexpected labour disputes, excluding airline staff strikes), aiming to prevent airlines from exploiting vague definitions to deny compensation.
Free personal item, hand luggage and child seats
Travel will become easier—and cheaper—for many, thanks to EU-wide baggage rules limiting free carry-on luggage to one personal item (40×30×15 cm) and one small hand bag (up to 100 cm total dimensions, weighing no more than 7 kg).
Children under 12 will be seated next to their guardian at no additional cost, and passengers with reduced mobility may travel with an accompanying person free of charge. New rights also cover compensation for damaged mobility aids or injury to assistance animals.
Ensuring protection in multimodal travel
In a separate 32–1 vote, MEPs backed new rules extending passenger rights to journeys involving more than one transport mode (for example, plane‑bus or train‑bus‑plane), when purchased under a single contract. If a missed connection delays a journey by 60 minutes or more, carriers must offer meals, refreshments, and, where needed, hotel accommodation at no charge.
Carriers and sellers are also required to clearly inform customers before purchase whether their ticket is single, combined or separate; failure to do so may incur reimbursement and 75 % compensation liability.
Next steps: awaiting plenary sign‑off
Parliament aims to start negotiations with EU member states in July 2025, following expected approval in plenary. The multimodal passenger package was voted through unanimously (42–0), while enforcement measures passed by 40 votes to one.
Why this matters now
MPs first challenged the European Commission’s 2004 Air Passenger Rights Regulation in 2014 to close loopholes and improve enforcement. Although national governments reached a political agreement in June 2025, meaningful progress stalled for over a decade. The committee votes signal a decisive step toward modern passenger protections across all transport modes
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Photo credit: Eminent Luggage, Unsplash
