TRAVEL: Air passengers can look forward to much better compensation and treatment from airlines in the near future. The European Parliament is due to pass new legislation this summer in relation to compensation and assistance to air passengers in case of denied boarding. The levels of compensation increase significantly.

The new compensation rates are €750 for shorter flights and €1,500 for flights of 3,500 km or more. In situations where passengers are denied boarding due to overbooking, volunteers will be called upon to surrender their reservations in exchange for certain benefits. The conditions of these benefits will be agreed between the passengers concerned and the carrier or tour operator. Only if insufficient volunteers come forward would operators be allowed to deny boarding.

Under the new system, volunteers should be given a choice between reimbursement of the full cost of the ticket for the part of the journey not made, rerouting to the final destination under comparable conditions or rerouting at a later stage.

There will also be a right to be taken care of while waiting for a flight. This will include free meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to waiting time and hotel accommodation if necessary.

In the event of a cancellation, the air carrier or tour operator should contact passengers affected and agree with them the conditions under which they accept to surrender confirmed reservations.

Practice for dealing with delays will also change under the new legislation. For shorter flights, assistance should be offered when the flight is delayed for more than two hours. Assistance will be offered where the delay exceeds four hours for flights of more than 3,500 km.