EU flight delay compensation will continue to be paid after three hours of waiting

The European Union has decided to keep in force the current rules on compensation for passengers for flight delays, despite years of pressure from airlines. Carriers actively lobbied to increase the minimum waiting time for payments from 3 to 5 or even 9 hours, arguing that they were suffering colossal financial losses. However, the EU insisted on protecting consumer rights.

Thus, if a flight is delayed by more than 3 hours through the airline's fault (and this is not related to force majeure circumstances such as a storm or air traffic controllers' strikes), passengers still have the right to a fixed cash compensation. Depending on the distance of the flight, the payment amounts to between 250 and 600 euros. These rules apply to all flights within the EU, departures from European airports, as well as flights by European carriers flying to the European Union from third countries.