Revised EU261 rules for implementation - mid to late 2027

NoodleDoodleMan

These slipped under the radar, not sure why I was distracted.

Some significant improvements, long overdue IMO.

https://airadvisor.com/en/blog/new-eu261-rules

Apologies to those who have flagged these up previously.

eskbanker

Yes, seems these proposed changes were published in mid-June but I don't recall seeing them either!

It'll be interesting to see the extent to which the UK version of these regulations is changed to mirror the revised EU ones - the amendments are fairly wide-ranging and sprawling, and at least one has already been incorporated into UK261 since the two were decoupled…

Quite sensible to define in more detail what is and isn't to be regarded as extraordinary circumstances (albeit not exhaustively), as this has been one of the key points of interpretation of the current regulations, and hence the large volume (90+) of ECJ rulings:

Annex: non-exhaustive list of circumstances considered as extraordinary circumstances for the purposes of this Regulation

1. The following circumstances shall be considered as extraordinary:

i. natural disasters rendering impossible the safe operation of the flight;

ii. technical problems which are not inherent in the normal operation of the aircraft, such as the identification of a defect during the flight operation concerned and which prevents the normal continuation of the operation; or a hidden manufacturing defect revealed by the manufacturer or a competent authority and which impinges on flight safety;

iii. security risks, acts of sabotage or terrorism rendering impossible the safe operation of the flight;

iv. life-threatening health risks or medical emergencies necessitating the interruption or deviation of the flight concerned;

v. air traffic management restrictions or closure of airspace or an airport;

vi. meteorological conditions incompatible with flight safety; and

vii. labour disputes at the operating air carrier or at essential service providers such as airports and Air Navigation Service Providers.

2. The following circumstances shall not be considered as extraordinary:

i. technical problems inherent in the normal operation of the aircraft, such as a problem identified during the routine maintenance or during the pre-flight check of the aircraft or which arises due to failure to correctly carry out such maintenance or pre-flight check; and

ii. unavailability of flight crew or cabin crew (unless caused by labour disputes).

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52013PC0130

There's also improved clarity regarding knock-on delays:

Such extraordinary circumstances can only be invoked insofar they affect the flight concerned or the previous flight operated by the same aircraft.

A (welcome) new self-rerouting provision is also mentioned in the EU FAQs document but I don't see it defined in the draft regulations, where I'd expect it to appear in article 8:

Passengers have a new right to self-rerouting. Passengers can book alternative travel themselves and obtain reimbursement when an airline fails to provide rerouting within three hours. The operating air carrier has to reimburse the expenses incurred by the passenger not exceeding 400% of the full price of the ticket within 14 calendar days.

https://transport.ec.europa.eu/background/questions-and-answers-revised-eu-air-passenger-rights_en

I see that it's not all one-way traffic though and one change favourable to the airlines is the capping of hotel accommodation reimbursement to three nights (at €100pppn) where extraordinary circumstances have caused a cancellation:

If the operating air carrier can prove that the cancellation, delay or change of schedule is caused by extraordinary circumstances and that the cancellation, delay or change of schedule could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken, it may limit the total cost of accommodation provided according to paragraph 1(b) to EUR 100 per night and per passenger and to a maximum of 3 nights.

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82117578#Comment_82117578

Not related to delays, but no more cancelling return flights because the outbound flight was missed too.

NoodleDoodleMan

"Not related to delays, but no more cancelling return flights because the outbound flight was missed too."

Yes, that caught my eye as well - so, when it comes to package holidays which include accommodation presumably that means the hotel (for example) remains available for occupancy as per the terms of the reservation ?

There was a story just recently about a family who missed their Jet2 outward flight after sleeping late which resulted in their holiday booking being cancelled and no hotel reservation when they arrived by separate flight - they also lost the original return flight.

These revised regulations will (should ?) put an end to that nonsense.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82118026#Comment_82118026

Not as I understand it - under these revised regulations, missing the outward flight wouldn't result in automatic cancellation of the return flight booking but the changes wouldn't have any effect on accommodation bookings (packaged or otherwise) in this scenario.

There also remains the question of whether the UK regulations will adopt any or all of the EU changes - a Jet2 flight from the UK doesn't fall within the scope of the EU regulations, even if flying to an EU destination…

NoodleDoodleMan

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82118074#Comment_82118074

I picked up the accommodation scenario by misunderstanding - apologies.

It'll be interesting to see if the major package players like Jet2 and TUI adhere to cancelling accommodation where they can't alter the return flight when the outward one is missed.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82118101#Comment_82118101

I expect that UK package providers will continue to be driven primarily by their responsibilities under the Package Travel Regulations, so if someone misses the outbound flight and the package Ts & Cs (without contravening the PTRs) state that the accommodation booking will be lost, then the fact that the return flight booking wouldn't be automatically cancelled (if covered by the revised EU flight regulations) doesn't really change anything?