The European Union will introduce comprehensive changes to air passenger rights in the summer of 2027, which will bring both advantages and new restrictions for travelers.
The Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor (AK) and the air passenger rights portal FairPlane point to improved information obligations, according to which airlines must inform their passengers electronically about any compensation claims within four days of landing. Furthermore, the right of families with children under 14 to sit together free of charge is enshrined in law, the free correction of typographical errors on tickets is guaranteed, and the ban on the so-called "no-show clause," which previously allowed airlines to refuse return flights if the outbound flight was not taken, is enforced.
At the same time, however, the reform significantly worsens the time limits for enforcing claims. Passengers will now have to claim compensation for delays, overbookings, or cancellations within nine months, whereas Austria previously had a three-year statute of limitations. While airlines are now obligated to pay out claims or provide a reason for their rejection within 30 days, the shortened deadline drastically restricts consumers' options. Furthermore, reimbursement for self-arranged alternative transportation is capped at a maximum of 400 percent of the original ticket price, which can lead to financial losses for passengers making last-minute bookings due to flight cancellations.
Chamber of Labor President Andreas Stangl considers the reform a partial success, as more far-reaching proposals for worsening conditions from the aviation lobby were averted. Nevertheless, the consumer protection organization is calling for further legal adjustments. Because compensation payments have not been adjusted for inflation for years, the Chamber of Labor is demanding an increase in the flat-rate compensation rates and the mandatory introduction of Europe-wide insolvency protection for prepaid flight tickets. Currently, passengers bear the full financial risk in the event of an airline's bankruptcy, as ticket funds are usually lost in insolvency proceedings.
Industry experts also view the new regulations as a response to the ongoing overload of national arbitration boards and courts, which have been confronted with a flood of compensation claims since the Covid pandemic. The requirement for transparent price disclosure, including hand baggage, is also intended to counteract the opaque fee structures of low-cost airlines. Whether the shortened nine-month period will actually lead to faster processing of cases or merely serve to allow legitimate claims from occasional flyers to lapse will become clear in practice from 2027 onwards.