'Disaster for customers': EU's plan to cut flight compensation provokes anger

Representatives for the bloc's 27 countries are to discuss the idea, which proponents say will result in fewer flight cancellations, on Wednesday in Brussels.

Carriers currently must pay air travellers in Europe up to €600 ($682) for delays of more than three hours, or if a flight is cancelled less than 14 days before departure.

Supporters see the rules dating back to 2004 as an example of the European Union's prowess in defending consumer rights.

But airlines say they face a hefty bill, which "perversely" often leads them to cancel flights rather than run them with a long delay -- with the knock-on effect on flight schedules.

"Extending the so-called delay thresholds will give airlines more time to move planes and crews across Europe to save flight schedules," said Airlines for Europe (A4E), an industry group.

Poland, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, has picked up plans for reform that have languished since a 2013 commission proposal failed to bear fruit.

Warsaw initially mooted upping the maximum non-sanctioned delay to five hours, according to several people familiar with the discussion.

But some member states, including Germany, oppose the idea and negotiations are ongoing to find a compromise, several European diplomats told AFP.

"Long flight delays are a real nuisance. They ruin the start of well-deserved holidays. They disrupt important plans. They cost valuable lifetime," said Stefanie Hubig, Germany's consumer rights minister.

Berlin could not agree to any changes "unilaterally aligned" with airlines' interests "just before the holiday season," she added.

More flights, less money

Upping the threshold to five-hours could save almost 50 percent of flights that are currently cancelled, according to A4E, which represents Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and other companies accounting for more than 80 percent of European air traffic.

It would also strip about 75 percent of passengers of the right to compensation, said Europe's BEUC umbrella consumer rights group.

"This is an unacceptable step back from the current level of protection," it said in a joint statement with consumer associations.

Delays and cancellations could cost airlines up to €8.1 billion this year, according to the European Commission.

Yet, agencies that help passengers get money in exchange for a fee note that of the millions of passengers eligible for compensation, only a fraction each year file a claim.

"For European customers this is a disastrous change," Tomasz Pawliszyn, the head of one such firm, Airhelp, told AFP of the planned reform.

Since the three-hours threshold has been adopted in other jurisdictions, such as Canada, Turkey and Britain, the changes would generate "confusion" and potentially lead to some European carriers being allowed longer delays than their non-European rivals on some of the same routes, he added.

'Blackmail'

The proposed change is part of a broader package of reforms.

This includes some clearly passenger-friendly moves, such as barring airlines from charging for hand-luggage of a standard size and weight.

It has nevertheless enraged some European lawmakers, as the Polish presidency of the European Council is seeking to push it through with a rarely-used expedited procedure that limits parliament's say.

"The first word that comes to my mind about the council behaviour is blackmail," Andrey Novakov, a lawmaker with the centre-right EPP and the parliament's rapporteur on the issue told AFP.

"Everyone who is not a pilot here in the parliament will need some time to digest" the reform and come up with suggestions that "could serve both passengers and airlines".

"This is not happening when you have a time pressure," he said.