Lisbon: Travellers stranded on the concourse at Humberto Delgado airport have long known the frustration of a delayed flight and a form that goes nowhere. That experience is about to change. In July 2026 the Council gave final clearance to a reform of EU passenger rights, closing a file that sat deadlocked for more than a decade.

The headline numbers survive intact. Passengers still earn compensation of between 250 and 600 euros when a flight is cancelled or runs more than three hours late, with the amount scaling to the distance flown. Airlines lobbied hard to weaken those thresholds, and the fact that lawmakers held the line counts as the reform’s clearest win for travellers.

The real shift lies in how people claim. Under the new rules an airline must contact affected passengers electronically within 96 hours of arrival, spell out their rights, and explain exactly how to file. Once a claim lands, the carrier has to acknowledge it at once and then, within 30 days, either pay up or give a clear reason for refusing. The old silence, which pushed many flyers toward paid claim agencies, becomes harder to sustain.

The package reaches beyond delays. It tightens fare transparency so the advertised price reflects what a traveller actually pays, curbs the no-show trap where an unused outbound leg cancels the return, and strengthens support for families travelling together and for passengers with reduced mobility. Each measure targets a grievance that regulators heard for years but could not fix under the ageing rulebook.

Airlines warn of costs. Carriers argue that faster payouts and stricter procedures will raise ticket prices, and some pressed for higher delay thresholds to reflect crowded skies and air-traffic bottlenecks. Consumer groups reply that the industry has had a decade of grace and that predictable rules serve passengers and honest operators alike.

The reform also settles a long fight over hand luggage, confirming that passengers may carry a small personal item into the cabin at no extra charge, and it extends protection to journeys that stitch flights together with trains or buses. Negotiators cast the deal as an effort to match the rulebook to how people travel now rather than how they flew when the original law first took shape.

None of it takes effect tomorrow. The rules apply 12 months after they formally enter into force, giving airlines a year to rebuild their claim systems and rewrite their small print. For now the reform stands as a rare example of a long-stalled consumer file finally crossing the line, and travellers will judge it the next time a departure board flashes the word delayed.