On 15 June 2026, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement to modernise the EU’s air passenger rights framework. It is the most significant overhaul since the original rules entered into force in 2004, and it follows more than a decade of negotiation that began with the European Commission’s 2013 reform proposal.
The reform clarifies points that had long been a source of dispute between passengers and carriers, simplifies the way claims are made and answered, and introduces several entirely new protections. For travellers connected to Serbia and the wider region, the practical question is not only what changes in the EU, but when and how those changes reach this part of Europe through the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA). We address that below.
Important: the 15 June 2026 text is a provisional political agreement. It must still be formally adopted by the Parliament and the Council after legal-linguistic revision, and it is not yet in force. The new rules will reach Serbia and the region in time, through the ECAA framework — see the ECAA section below. Until then, the current rules (Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 and the equivalent national rules in the ECAA region) continue to apply. Figures and timeframes below reflect the announced agreement and may be refined in the final text.
Compensation for cancellations and long delays
Passengers will be entitled to compensation where a flight arrives more than three hours late, or where a flight is cancelled fewer than 14 days before the scheduled departure. The compensation amounts remain broadly in line with the levels passengers know today:
- EUR 250 for all flights of 1,500 km or less;
- EUR 400 for all intra-EU flights and for other flights between 1,500 km and 3,500 km;
- EUR 600 for all longer flights.
The carrier remains responsible for compensating delays measured at arrival, including where rerouting is offered.
A simpler, faster claims process
One of the central goals of the reform is to make rights easier to exercise in practice, rather than only on paper. Where a delay may give rise to compensation, the airline must inform the passenger electronically within 96 hours of arrival, explain the relevant rights, and give clear instructions on how to submit a claim.
Once a claim is submitted, the airline must acknowledge receipt immediately and then respond within 14 days — either by paying the compensation or by giving a clear, reasoned justification for refusing it.
The right to care during disruption
When a flight is disrupted, passengers are entitled to assistance while they wait. The agreement spells this out more precisely:
- refreshments for every two hours of waiting;
- a meal after three hours, and again every five hours thereafter (up to three meals per day);
- internet access and two telephone calls.
Where an overnight stay becomes necessary, the airline must provide hotel accommodation free of charge, along with free transport between the airport and the accommodation. If the airline fails to provide the assistance it owes, passengers may make their own arrangements and claim reimbursement.
New rights for passengers
The reform adds protections that did not previously exist in the EU framework:
- No-show ban: an airline may no longer deny boarding on a later leg simply because the passenger did not use an earlier (inbound) flight on the same booking.
- Price transparency: fares that include an allowance for one piece of hand baggage must be displayed by default before the booking process begins, so passengers can compare carriers on a like-for-like basis.
- Stronger protection for persons with specific needs — passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility, children, unaccompanied minors and pregnant travellers. Families, persons with reduced mobility and those accompanying them will be able to sit together at no extra cost, and the no-show ban applies in full to these groups.
Persons with reduced mobility also gain dedicated rights: compensation where an airport fails to provide adequate assistance, priority in assistance and rerouting, the ability to travel with mobility equipment and assistance dogs without paying extra insurance, and free replacement of mobility equipment that is lost or damaged.
Rerouting when a flight is cancelled or boarding is denied
A passenger who opts for rerouting at the earliest opportunity after a cancellation or denied boarding must be offered an alternative within three hours. Where appropriate, this can mean a different route, a different airport, another carrier’s service, or even a different mode of transport. Rerouting is at the airline’s expense and under comparable conditions — a passenger who booked a direct flight should not be forced onto multiple connections, and may be rerouted in a higher class at no extra cost.
If the airline fails to offer rerouting within three hours, the passenger may arrange their own and claim reimbursement of up to 400% of the original ticket price.
Extraordinary circumstances, clarified
Carriers are not required to pay compensation where a disruption is caused by extraordinary circumstances — events beyond the airline’s control and unrelated to the normal operation of its activities. The agreement adds a non-exhaustive list of such circumstances and tightens how they may be invoked.
An extraordinary circumstance may be relied upon only where it affects the flight in question, or at most one of the three preceding flights in the aircraft’s rotation, and where there is a direct causal link to the disruption. The burden of proof stays with the airline, which must also show that all reasonable measures were taken to avoid the problem. If a carrier rejects a claim on this basis, it must give the passenger a clear, substantiated and easy-to-understand explanation.
Who is covered under the EU rules
The EU rules follow the flight, not the passenger’s nationality. Regulation 261/2004 applies to passengers:
- flying within the EU, whether on an EU or a non-EU airline;
- arriving in the EU from a non-EU country, where the flight is operated by an EU airline; and
- departing from the EU to a non-EU country, on either an EU or a non-EU airline.
On their own, the EU rules therefore do not cover a flight that departs from a Serbian airport. That gap is filled by the ECAA agreement, explained next.
Serbia and the region: how the rules apply through the ECAA agreement
Serbia and its neighbours are part of the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) — the agreement that extends the EU’s single aviation market, and much of its aviation law, to partner countries. The Western Balkans signatories include Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina (as well as Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244), alongside Norway and Iceland.
Through the ECAA agreement, these countries have transposed the EU passenger rights rules into their own national law. In Serbia, this is done through the Law on Obligations and Basic Property Relations in Air Transport, which mirrors Regulation 261/2004: the same compensation tiers (EUR 250, 400 and 600, payable in dinar equivalent), and the same rights to assistance, rerouting and information.
For travellers and businesses here, this is the encouraging part: through the ECAA agreement, the EU aviation acquis is progressively taken over into national law, so this reform is set to become the standard in Serbia and the region as well. Once the new rules are incorporated into the ECAA framework and transposed nationally, passengers departing from the region will enjoy the same strengthened protections that apply within the EU.
How Injac Attorneys can help
Compensation and assistance rights are only valuable if they are enforced. In practice, airlines frequently reject claims, invoke extraordinary circumstances without adequate justification, or simply let deadlines pass. Our firm advises international travellers and businesses on enforcing air passenger rights against carriers operating to and from the EU and across the ECAA region — identifying which regime applies to a given route, assessing whether a claim is well founded, corresponding with the airline, and pursuing the matter through the appropriate dispute-resolution or court channels where necessary.
