According to the proposal presented by the community executive, travellers will continue to have the right to a refund within 14 days, which will be made easier because organised travel agents, the majority of which are small and medium-sized companies, will be entitled to reimbursement from service providers within seven days.
According to the proposed changes, transfer payments made by travellers for package trips cannot exceed 25% of the price, providing for an exception in case the costs of plane tickets.
On the other hand, organisers cannot request full payment before 28 days have passed before the start of the package trip.
The Commission also wants to establish rules to protect passengers who use different types of transport, such as buses, trains and planes, on all journeys.
Passengers will benefit from better information rights before and during these journeys, particularly with regard to minimum connection times between different transport services.
If the multimodal trip is purchased under a transport contract, passengers will be entitled to assistance from the carrier in case of lost connections.
The new rules also provide that passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility will be assisted when changing from one mode of transport to another.
Brussels presented a proposal on passenger rights and another on rights in the context of multimodal travel.
Around 13 billion passengers travel every year by plane, train, bus or ferry in the EU, with this value expected to reach 15 billion euros by 2030 and almost 20 billion by 2050.
Source: The Portugal News
