Latest news
11/09/25 Plenary backs PTD revision – ECTAA warns against new fragmentation
Following today’s Plenary vote on the Package Travel Directive (PTD) revision, ECTAA acknowledges progress made but warns that key concerns remain. The association highlights the risk of Single Market fragmentation through diverging prepayment rules and cautions that the new 24-hour definition could create confusion for both consumers and businesses. ECTAA calls on trilogue negotiators to address these issues and ensure a balanced framework that provides strong traveller protection without overburdening SMEs.
Following today’s Plenary vote on the Package Travel Directive (PTD) revision, ECTAA acknowledges progress made but warns that key concerns remain. The association highlights the risk of Single Market fragmentation through diverging prepayment rules and cautions that the new 24-hour definition could create confusion for both consumers and businesses. ECTAA calls on trilogue negotiators to address these issues and ensure a balanced framework that provides strong traveller protection without overburdening SMEs.
01/09/25 ECTAA, WTAAA and travel companies call for change to No Show Rule application
ECTAA, together with the World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) and a large number of travel companies, has approached several airlines requesting a revision of their so-called No Show Rules.
Currently, these rules require travel intermediaries, when a passenger decides not to travel, not only to cancel the booking (which immediately frees the seat for resale) but also to process the refund before the flight’s departure. If this is not done, penalties are applied.
Refunding, however, is a separate process from cancelling a booking. In practice, it is often not feasible before departure (e.g. on weekends) or extremely burdensome when many passengers are affected. Crucially, refunding at a later stage has no negative impact on airlines.
ECTAA, WTAAA and their partners have therefore jointly called on airlines applying these rules to bring their practices in line with established industry standards.
ECTAA and WTAAA will continue to closely monitor developments on this issue in the coming weeks.
For more information, please contact: secretariat@ectaa.org
Currently, these rules require travel intermediaries, when a passenger decides not to travel, not only to cancel the booking (which immediately frees the seat for resale) but also to process the refund before the flight’s departure. If this is not done, penalties are applied.
Refunding, however, is a separate process from cancelling a booking. In practice, it is often not feasible before departure (e.g. on weekends) or extremely burdensome when many passengers are affected. Crucially, refunding at a later stage has no negative impact on airlines.
ECTAA, WTAAA and their partners have therefore jointly called on airlines applying these rules to bring their practices in line with established industry standards.
ECTAA and WTAAA will continue to closely monitor developments on this issue in the coming weeks.
For more information, please contact: secretariat@ectaa.org
24/07/2025 Travel and tourism sector raises concern over proposed ETIAS fee increase
The European travel and tourism industry expresses its deep concern over the European Commission’s recent proposal to increase the ETIAS travel authorisation fee from €7 to €20 per application, nearly a threefold increase compared to the original amount agreed in 2018. The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), expected to become operational in late 2026, will require visa-exempt non-EU travellers to obtain an online authorisation before entering the EU and pay a fee prior to travelling to the Schengen Area.
The European travel and tourism industry expresses its deep concern over the European Commission’s recent proposal to increase the ETIAS travel authorisation fee from €7 to €20 per application, nearly a threefold increase compared to the original amount agreed in 2018. The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), expected to become operational in late 2026, will require visa-exempt non-EU travellers to obtain an online authorisation before entering the EU and pay a fee prior to travelling to the Schengen Area.
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