Sawt Falasteen - Longer flight delays without compensation? EU plan divides

Representatives for the bloc's 27 countries discussed 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 euros ($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 -- due to 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 introduced 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.

Even a compromise backed by 15 states to increase the threshold to four hours for flights of up to 3,500 kilometres and six hours for longer ones failed to find enough support to pass Wednesday, 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.

It is pushing to keep the three-hour threshold but lower compensation to a flat rate of 300 euros, according to diplomatic sources.

- More flights less money -

The original plan to allow a five-hour delay could have saved 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 have stripped 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 euros 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 changes are 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, for 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's behaviour is blackmail," Andrey Novakov, a lawmaker with the centre-right EPP and the parliament's rapporteur on the issue told AFP.

Member states' representatives are to discuss the issue again next week ahead of a meeting of transport ministers on June 5.

K.Hassan--SF-PST