On 12 June 2026, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union agreed on a revision of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004. Here is what this text actually changes – and what it does not.
✓ Content checked by the VolClaim editorial team · Last updated: 16 September 2026 · Sources: European Parliament, Council of the European Union, Regulation (EC) No 261/2004
The compensation scale by distance band, as well as the 3-hour delay threshold giving a right to compensation in line with the Sturgeon case law (CJEU, 2009), are maintained in the revised text.
If the airline does not offer a re-routing solution within 3 hours of a cancellation or denied boarding, the passenger will be able to arrange alternative transport themselves and claim reimbursement, within a certain limit.
Passengers will now have 9 months to submit their compensation claim directly to the airline, with common rules across the Union.
The right to free hand luggage, already widely recognised in practice and in case law, is explicitly written into the revised text.
The text still has to go through the formal adoption stages (technical validation, publication). Once published in the Official Journal of the European Union, it will come into application 12 months and 20 days later – that is, in all likelihood, in the second half of 2027.
In the meantime, the current Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 applies in full, without any changes. The scale of €250 to €600, the 3-hour threshold and the grounds for exemption (extraordinary circumstances) remain identical for any flight disrupted today.
Official source: press release from the Council of the European Union, 13 July 2026.
Yes. Until the revised text comes into force, the current Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 applies in full: a scale of €250 to €600, a 3-hour delay threshold, etc.
No. You can assert your rights now for any disrupted flight, without waiting for the revised text to come into force, which will not have retroactive effect.
Our calculator applies the scale in force at the time of your flight. We will update our method as soon as the new text officially comes into force, and we will document this change on this page.
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