(AGENPARL) – Wed 21 January 2026 [1] scribo-webmail-logo [22]
Press service **
European Parliament **
Press release
16-01-2026
Plenary session
TRAN
None [2] Reminder: Air passenger rights: press conference on Wednesday at 14.30
Rapporteur Andrey Novakov (EPP, BG) and shadow rapporteurs will brief journalists on the update of EU air passengers rights rules, shortly after the vote in plenary on Wednesday.
On Wednesday at noon, MEPs will vote on Parliament’s response to the Council’s June 2025 position [3] on air passenger rights. They are expected to seek to ensure that passengers are sufficiently protected against travel disruption such as denied boarding and delayed or cancelled flights.
MEPs are planning to reject the EU Council’s push to weaken air passenger rights. They want to maintain air travellers’ right to be reimbursed or re-routed and to claim compensation if a flight is delayed by more than three hours, if it is cancelled, or if they are denied boarding (Council’s position is that compensation should apply only after a four-to-six-hour delay, depending on the flight distance).
They also want to push for the right to carry on board, at no additional cost, one personal item, such as a handbag, backpack or laptop, plus one small piece of hand luggage with maximum dimensions of 100 cm (combined length, width and height) and weighing no more than seven kilograms.
No fees for correcting passenger name spelling errors, for checking-in, or for children having seats next to their parents are several of the improvements for air travellers Parliament is to decide on Wednesday.
When: *Wednesday 21 January 2026, 14.30 CET.
Where: *European Parliament in Strasbourg, Daphne Caruana Galizia press conference room (WEISS N -1/201).
Who: *Parliament’s rapporteur Andrey Novakov (EPP, BG) [4], *TRAN vice-chair Virginijus Sinkevičius (Greens, LT [5] )* and shadow rapporteurs Mateo Ricci (S&D, IT) [6], Vilis Krištopans (PfE, LV) [7], Kosma Złotowski (ECR, PL) [8], Jan-Christoph Oetjen (Renew, DE) [9], Vincent Marzà Ibáñez (Greens, ES) [10], Arash Saeidi (The Left, FR) [11] .
How: *Accredited media representatives are invited to attend the press conference in person. In addition, journalists can join the press conference and ask questions remotely via the Interactio platform [12] . When connecting, enter your name and the media organisation you are representing in the first name/last name fields. For better sound quality, use headphones and a microphone. Interpretation is only possible for interventions with video.
Interpretation will be available into and from English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Bulgarian.
The press conference will also be webstreamed live on the Parliament’s Multimedia Centre website. You can follow it here [13] .
Background*
Since Parliament made proposals on air passenger rights reform in 2014, the progress to update these rules has stalled for 11 years in Council. In June 2025, however, EU ministers reached a political agreement, opening the way for negotiations with Parliament. The interinstitutional talks started in October 2025, but the negotiations did not result in an agreement, forcing Parliament to proceed with the adoption of its second reading position.
Further information
[14] scribo-webmail-arrow [23]
Draft EP recommendation for second reading on air passenger rules
[15] scribo-webmail-arrow [24]
Procedure file
[16] scribo-webmail-arrow [25]
EP Research Service briefing on air passenger rights (January 2026)
Gediminas VILKAS
Press Officer (LT)
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