Travel Law Updates: Australia, Canada/USA, EU, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Thailand and UK 8 July 2026

• whether the unauthorised use of airline logos and branding on travel platforms not affiliated with that airline is a breach of trademark and other IP rights;
• whether platform users would reasonably be confused or misled by seeing an airline logo on a third-party platform not affiliated with that airline, such as an OTA;
• whether terms of use prohibiting data mining, screen scraping and applications and processes which circumvent blocking of data mining and screen scraping are valid and enforceable; and
• whether the airline’s terms of use apply to the API operator, which is typically not the airline itself and a third party.

European Union

On 15 June 2026, the EU announced reforms to EC 261/2004, which provides for air passenger rights and a compensation regime. The key changes are as follows:

• advertised fares must include a standard piece of cabin baggage;
• an adult accompanying a child under 14 must be offered an adjacent seat free of charge;
• for passengers on return and multisector flights, a failure to board the outbound or previous flight will no longer allow an airline to deny boarding for the return or next flight;
• airlines have 96 hours from the time of arrival to inform passengers of their rights and how to claim compensation; and
• greater rights for reduced mobility and disabled passengers during flight disruptions and for their mobility equipment.

The changes are expected to be put to a vote of the EU parliament in July and, if approved, implemented in 2027. Carriers will have 12 months from the date of publication of the changes to update their fare conditions and structures and IT and reservation systems.

The EU rejected airline industry submissions that compensation for delays should be triggered by a delay of five or more hours.

Key takeaways:

• the cabin baggage changes reflect the judgment of the EU Court of Justice (“CJEU”) that cabin baggage is an essential part of the carriage of passengers. It will require a number of airlines, notably LCCs, to restructure their pricing and fare models and this may lead to higher fares and more restrictive fare conditions;
• the refusal to update the delay compensation triggers means that compensation for some short haul flights will continue to be substantially greater than the fare for that flight;
• OTAs and other travel intermediaries should prepare for the changes and ensure that their booking engines and complaints handling procedures and processes are updated in advance of the deadline for implementation; and
• the EU failed to use this opportunity to provide clarity and more certainty about what constitutes ‘extraordinary circumstances’ and when such circumstances will and will not deny air travelers’ compensation. This would have reduced the volume of litigation in EU courts and issues referred to the CJEU.

Key takeaway: the ban in the Hague survived a 2025 legal challenge. This will likely discourage any similar challenge to the ban in Amsterdam. OTAs and other travel intermediaries should consider the extent to which their public advertising is subject to this ban. For example, does advertising a flight-inclusive package holiday from Amsterdam to Sri Lanka fall within the scope of the ban?

Thailand

Relaxation of prohibitions on the sale of alcohol

In our February update, we reported on the six month lifting of the prohibition on the sale of alcohol between 14:00 and 17:00. On 29 May 2026, the Thai government announced that the six month lifting will become permanent and alcohol can be sold and consumed between 11:00 and 24:00. This does not apply to hotels as the Thai government lifted bans on the sale and public consumption of alcohol on premises in 2025. The Thai government has also introduced further restrictions on the sale and public consumption of alcohol in locations where passenger transport is available, including railway stations, ferry terminals and piers and in and on vehicles.

Key take-away: the 29 May announcement provides restaurants, bars and other licensed venues with certainty as to their ability to sell alcohol during the day, reflecting the impact of foreign tourists on the Thai food and beverage sector. The further restrictions may also limit sponsorship by alcoholic beverage brands. Hotels and tourism sector operators should also carefully consider events and promotions which are co-branded with alcoholic beverage brands.

Buy Now Pay Later to be regulated by Bank of Thailand

On 2 June 2026, the Governor of the Bank of Thailand (“BOT”) announced that it is considering regulating Buy Now Pay Later (“BNPL”) structures, which have seen rapid growth in the post-Covid e-commerce boom and which is perceived as fuelling rising Thai household debts. While certain BNPL providers are subject to the digital personal loans regulation, which permits a maximum interest rate of 25% per annum but limits the loan principal to THB20,000 (approximately US$600), other BNPL providers operate under the more general provisions applicable to loans under the Thai Civil and Commercial Code which permit lenders to charge interest at the maximum rate of 15% per annum.

The BOT is understood to be considering:

• setting a minimum age threshold for borrowers;
• setting a limit on the types of products eligible for BNPL;
• setting a minimum product price threshold; and
• regulating the practice of auto opting-in BNPL as the default payment method.

The BOT aims to issue the regulation by the end of 2026.

Key take-away: travel operators and online travel agencies which accept payments via BNPL should closely monitor the release and implementation of this regulation to ensure that BNPL payment options offered to Thai users comply with this new regulation.

• whether this ‘mandatory family seat’ policy constitutes an unfair contract term by forcing parents to pay for the seat next to their child in circumstances where a parent or legal guardian is required to be seated next to a child of 2 to 11 under child safety and disability access aviation rules and regulations;
• Ryanair advertises that children under 12 have free reserved seats but these seats can only be accessed when an accompanying adult pays the ‘mandatory family seat’ policy fee; and
• whether the ‘mandatory family seat’ policy fee is clearly and transparently disclosed and does not constitute ‘drip pricing’ and fails to meet requirements to display the total fare including all applicable charges.

On 25 June, Ryanair announced changes to this policy to allow adults, who are travelling with children and do not wish to pay for their seats, to allow the airline to allocate seats for them and their accompanying children without a seat reservation fee. The seats will be allocated after check-in. Adults, who are travelling with children and would like to have reserved and selected seats can continue to do so on payment of the adult seat reservation fee.

Key take-away: this is a further example of regulatory authorities publicly and aggressively investigating terms and conditions affecting travellers. It is unclear to what extent this will end the CMA investigation or reduce its scope. If the CMA investigation proceeds and it finds that the ‘mandatory family seat’ policy is an unfair contract term, this may have broader implications for other airlines and travel sector platforms which impose fees, requirements and restrictions. These are not automatically unfair contract terms and the CMA findings should provide further guidance on how to structure fees, requirements and restrictions in order that their operation does not rely on unfair contract terms. The CMA findings on drip pricing should also provide more guidance on its current view of how fares and prices should be disclosed during the booking flow.