EU 14-Day Refund Rule Targets Flights Booked via Travel Agents

A deadline for refunds that used to drift for months

On 20 October, the European Parliament voted for a narrow but long-requested change to EU passenger rights. It sets a firm deadline for returning money to travellers whose flights are cancelled after they booked through a travel agent or online platform. MEPs passed the cross-transport regulation by 652 votes to two, with eight abstentions1117. The new rule allows 14 days in total. The airline has up to seven days to send the money to the intermediary, and the intermediary then has up to seven more days to pay the passenger1217. The refund has to be the full amount, including any fee the intermediary charged1718.

This does not change the rule for passengers who book directly with an airline. They are already supposed to get their money back within seven days, and the new regulation deals only with bookings made through intermediaries12. Any claim that Europe has introduced a general 14-day refund deadline for all tickets misreads what was passed. The change targets one specific gap: the period when the airline and the booking site each say the other is responsible for the refund.

The rules are not in force yet. The Council of the EU still has to give formal approval, the text then has to appear in the Official Journal, and the regulation is set to apply from 23 October 20271117. Until that date, the current rules apply to any cancellation18.

What else is in the package

The 14-day deadline gets most of the attention, but the regulation does several other things. Booking sites will have to explain how refunds work at the moment a customer buys a ticket1217. The European Commission will publish standard claim forms for refunds and compensation in every official EU language, covering all modes of transport, though carriers can still offer their own form if it is equivalent1318. Bus, rail and ferry operators already use forms like these, so the practical change falls mainly on airlines12.

Passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility will be able to bring a companion on a flight free of charge when that person is genuinely needed, which matches the rules that already apply on buses, trains and ships1617. The free seat is for a companion who is actually required, and airlines may ask for details of the assistance needed and check them18.

The enforcement changes may matter most in the long run. National authorities will be able to start audits, inspections and interviews with carriers on their own initiative, without waiting for a passenger to complain1112. Italian Socialist MEP Matteo Ricci, who steered the file through Parliament, said authorities would help make sure companies meet their obligations without court action, and described the law as putting citizens' rights ahead of airline profits17.

Where the coverage diverges

Reports agree on the vote count, the seven-plus-seven structure and the 2027 start date. They differ on what happens when the deadline is missed. Several outlets say the airline must pay the passenger directly if the intermediary does not pay on time1319. Another describes it differently: once 14 days have passed without a refund, the passenger can claim from the operating airline15. Either way, the airline remains the backstop, which is the main point for travellers. Whether airlines pay automatically or only when the passenger asks will depend on the final legal text.

Some reports overstate the change. One describes it as a duty on airlines to refund within 14 days for any cancellation or significant disruption, and presents the free cabin bag as already in force14. The same report dates the broader aviation package to July of last year, when it was July 20261419. Another gives the start date as "mid-2027"15, while most others give 23 October 20271116.

The bigger EU261 overhaul running alongside

The intermediary rule is separate from the reform of Regulation 261/2004, the main law on compensation for cancellations, long delays and denied boarding11. The two were designed to work together and are due to apply from the same date18.

That reform came out of a provisional deal reached in mid-June after 13 years of deadlock47. Parliament approved it on 7 July by 646 votes to 1210. Passengers kept the main protections. Compensation is still triggered by an arrival delay of more than three hours or a cancellation made less than 14 days before departure, at €250, €400 or €600 depending on distance1. This is a second 14-day figure, and it is unrelated to the refund deadline. During negotiations, member states had pushed to raise the delay threshold to four hours on short and medium routes and six hours on long-haul3. One claims firm estimated that this could have removed 60–70% of passengers who currently qualify2.

Airlines won concessions as well. They can cut compensation by half on their longest routes if they reroute the passenger or the arrival delay is no more than four hours610. Claims will also face a single nine-month time limit across the EU610. Airlines will have to contact passengers electronically within 96 hours when a delay may qualify for compensation, and they must pay or justify a refusal within 30 days1. One critique points out that the 96-hour notice applies only when the airline itself accepts that the delay might qualify. If the airline blames extraordinary circumstances, it does not have to tell passengers anything4.

Strikes: refunds are clear, compensation is not

This autumn has shown why both reforms matter. An Italian air traffic control walkout on 30 September led to 308 cancellations and 1,746 delays33. In Portugal, easyJet cabin crew went on strike from 2 to 6 October, and that action has been linked to 443 cancellations40. On 9 October, ground handlers at Alyzia joined a Belgian national strike, which led to about 140 cancellations at Brussels, including roughly 40% of Brussels Airlines' schedule that day3739. Brussels Airlines said affected passengers would be offered either another trip or a full refund37.

The difference between refunds and compensation shows up most clearly in strikes. Passengers have a right to a refund or rerouting after a cancellation whatever the cause. Cash compensation does not apply when the airline can point to extraordinary circumstances, and air traffic control strikes are the standard example27. The new list of extraordinary circumstances in the EU261 deal should draw that line more clearly7. Strikes aimed at governments rather than airlines are less clear. The pilots' and cabin crew walkout in France from 17 to 21 October, over pension reform, has been described as a contested case for compensation36.

For anyone whose cancelled strike-hit flight was booked through a third-party site, the 14-day rule would have answered a practical question that current law leaves open: who pays, and by when.

The border queues no refund rule covers

The EU's Entry/Exit System is putting a different kind of pressure on travellers. The biometric border system has been fully running since 10 April 2026, and it records fingerprints and facial images from non-EU travellers21. On 12 October, the airport association ACI EUROPE and the airline group A4E said waits were still routinely longer than two hours and reached five hours at the worst peaks. They blamed border staff shortages, unstable IT and too little use of kiosks and e-gates2529. The European Commission has said that only around 20 difficult locations have serious queues, and that a full suspension of the system is neither needed nor possible26. During half-term, reported typical entry waits were 95 minutes at Brussels, 68 minutes at Porto and 63 minutes at Berlin22.

Neither of this year's reforms helps much here. Passengers who miss a flight because of a border queue are unlikely to be covered by travel insurance, and airlines are not obliged to rebook them for free22. The industry wants member states to regain a permanent power to partly suspend biometric checks when queues get too long2128. The answer to queues will have to come from border policy, not passenger-rights law.

What this means

Overall, the 14-day rule is a useful fix to the mechanics of refunds. It is not a major expansion of what passengers are entitled to. It removes the airline-versus-agent dispute that has delayed refunds, makes the airline the fallback when the intermediary does not pay, and gives regulators power to act before complaints arrive. Its value will depend on enforcement, which is the area this regulation strengthens most. For the next year, travellers will still rely on the current rules. Passengers dealing with strikes or long border queues should not expect much more help once the new rules start in 2027, because neither reform changes the extraordinary-circumstances exemption or covers flights missed at border control.