The 2026 reform keeps EU261 compensation at €250, €400 and €600 on the same distance bands, and keeps the three-hour arrival-delay trigger. It adds a 96-hour duty on the airline to tell you that you may be owed money, and 30 days to pay or refuse. It is adopted, and it does not apply yet.
The law for a flight you take today
Nothing has changed for a flight you are on now, or a claim you are sending this week. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 applies exactly as it stood before, including the three-hour arrival-delay right the Court of Justice read into Article 7. The amounts table and every letter on this site are written to the law in force. Claim under those rules.
What was adopted, and when
The Conciliation Committee’s co-chairs approved a joint text on 15 June 2026, and the European Commission welcomed the agreement the same day. Parliament approved the joint text on 7 July 2026 by 646 votes to 12, with 3 abstentions. The Council’s press office announced final clearance on 13 July 2026.
One thing we could not check ourselves: the Council’s press release of 13 July refused our request, so we have its title and date but not its text. Parliament’s own Legislative Train page still described the file as close to adoption when we read it on 6 September 2026, and no Official Journal reference for the act had appeared. Everything below comes from the adopted joint text itself, PE-CONS 39/1/26 REV 1, which we read in full.
When it starts to apply
Article 3 of the amending regulation says the act “shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union”, and that “it shall apply from … [12 months from the date of entry into force of this amending Regulation]”. The square brackets are in the adopted text — that date is filled in when the act is published. Because no publication date existed on 6 September 2026, the earliest the new rules can bite is roughly twelve months and twenty days after a date nobody has yet set.
Nothing here is retroactive, and waiting costs you money. A disruption that happens before the application date is judged by the current regulation, whenever you claim. Meanwhile your existing claim is running down a national limitation clock — see how long you have to claim, by country.
What changes, with the article number
Each row is the new numbering inside Regulation 261/2004 as amended, read from the adopted joint text.
| What the reform does | New article |
|---|---|
| Keeps compensation at €250 / €400 / €600 on the same 1,500 km and 3,500 km bands | Art. 7(1) |
| Writes the three-hour arrival delay into the text instead of leaving it to case law | Art. 6(4) |
| Makes the airline tell you electronically, within 96 hours of the end of your journey, that you may be owed compensation and how to ask for it | Art. 7(4) |
| Gives you nine months from the actual departure date to submit the request | Art. 7(9) |
| Makes the airline acknowledge the request at once and, within 30 calendar days, either pay or give a reasoned refusal naming the exact circumstance it relies on | Art. 7(9) with Art. 6c(2) |
| Pays compensation by bank transfer unless you agree on a durable medium to another method | Art. 7(7) |
| Makes a voucher optional: it needs your explicit consent, lasts 12 months (one extension by agreement) and any unused balance is repaid | Art. 8a |
| Reimburses a cancelled ticket automatically within seven calendar days of your choice | Art. 8(1)(a) |
| Lets you book your own re-routing if none is offered within three hours, and reclaim expenses up to 400 % of the ticket price within 14 days | Art. 8(3) |
| Bans no-show clauses — no refusal and no fee on the return leg because you skipped the outbound | Art. 4(5) |
| Adds an Annex list of extraordinary circumstances, a direct-causal-link test and an explicit burden of proof on the airline | Art. 6c and the Annex |
| Tarmac delay: at two hours the aircraft must go to a gate or other disembarkation point and let passengers off | Art. 6a |
| Missed connection on one contract: the carrier of the first leg re-routes you, and owes a refund if it cannot within five hours | Art. 6b |
| Complaints: 12 months to complain, seven working days to acknowledge, one month for a reasoned reply | Art. 15a |
| Mobility equipment: a free special declaration of interest, and a limit per passenger rather than per bag | Annex II to Reg. 2027/97 |
Three things being reported loosely
“Compensation drops to €300.” It does not. Article 7(1) of the amended regulation keeps €250 for journeys of 1,500 km or less, €400 for intra-EU journeys over 1,500 km and other journeys of 1,500–3,500 km, and €600 for the rest. The lower figure in circulation comes from the Council’s 2025 negotiating position, which did not survive conciliation.
“There will be a closed list of extraordinary circumstances.” The Annex is headed “Non-exhaustive list of circumstances considered as extraordinary”. An airline can still invoke something that is not on it — but Article 7(9) then forces it to name the event and explain why it should count, and Article 6c(2) requires a direct causal link between that event and your disruption.
“The 50 % reduction is unchanged.” New Article 7(2) applies the reduction only to the €600 band, and only where you arrive within four hours of the original scheduled arrival. That is narrower than the current Article 7(2) rule, which has a 2 / 3 / 4-hour ladder across all three bands.
What to do now
- Claim under today’s rules. The delay letter and the cancellation letter cite the articles in force.
- Look up your distance band before you name a figure; the reform does not change it.
- If the airline goes quiet or refuses, escalate to the regulator. None of the new deadlines helps you yet.
Does the reform cut EU261 compensation to €300?
No. The adopted text keeps €250, €400 and €600 in Article 7(1), on the same distance bands. The €300 figure came from an earlier Council position that was dropped. A 50 % reduction to €300 still exists, but only on the €600 band and only where re-routing gets you in within four hours.
When do the new EU261 rules start?
Twelve months after they enter into force, and they enter into force twenty days after publication in the Official Journal. As of 6 September 2026 no publication date had been set, so no start date can be stated honestly. Anyone quoting a firm date is guessing.
Can I rely on the 96-hour and 30-day rules now?
No. Those duties live in the amended Articles 7(4) and 7(9) and take effect only on the application date. Today the airline has no fixed statutory deadline to answer you, which is why the chaser letter sets one yourself and names where you will go next.
Does the reform change UK261?
No. The UK left the regulation in domestic law after Brexit; a Union act does not amend it. UK claims stay on £220, £350 and £520 under the retained regulation, and any UK change would need its own legislation.