GBTA Backs Major EU Passenger Package Reforms to Transform Business Travel, Rail Booking and Passenger Protection Across Europe

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The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has set out its position regarding the EU’s proposals for reforming passenger transport in Europe to ensure that business travel is more interconnected, efficient and reliable within the continent. In the wake of debates around the EU Passenger Package, the global business travel association has set out its official position emphasizing the need for easier rail reservations, better multimodal travel links and passenger rights.

The proposed changes could mark an important development for Europe’s corporate travel industry, particularly for organisations managing complex journeys involving different transport operators. By addressing long-standing difficulties in ticket distribution, booking management and disruption assistance, the reforms aim to create a transport system that allows travellers to move between services with greater confidence and fewer administrative obstacles.

For business travellers, the implications extend well beyond the convenience of purchasing tickets. The ability to compare transport options, manage reservations through a single booking platform and receive timely assistance when journeys are disrupted plays a central role in keeping corporate travel programmes efficient. GBTA believes that a coordinated legislative approach could help European businesses manage travel expenditure, meet environmental objectives and maintain stronger oversight of employee journeys.

EU Passenger Package Could Reshape the Future of Corporate Travel Across Europe

The European Union’s proposed Passenger Package represents an effort to modernise the way passengers arrange and experience journeys across different transport networks. Its legislative proposals address important aspects of rail ticketing, multimodal booking and passenger rights, with the broader objective of reducing the barriers that currently make cross-border and multi-operator journeys difficult to organise.

For corporate travellers, these challenges become particularly significant when a business trip requires several train services or a combination of air and rail transport. Separate ticketing arrangements, different booking platforms and inconsistent rules for managing reservations can create complications before a journey even begins.

The proposed reforms seek to address these difficulties by encouraging greater integration between transport providers and travel distribution systems. Easier access to journey information and booking services could allow travellers to identify suitable connections, compare available options and arrange more complicated itineraries without navigating several disconnected platforms.

The initiative also places considerable importance on protecting passengers when travel arrangements fail to operate as planned. Delays, cancellations and missed connections can have consequences for travellers whose schedules depend on reaching meetings, conferences or other professional commitments on time.

By strengthening the relationship between booking arrangements and passenger assistance, the package could make complex journeys more manageable while supporting a more integrated European transport market.

Integrated Rail and Air Booking Systems Become a Central Priority for Business Travel

One of the most important issues identified by GBTA concerns the fragmented nature of Europe’s existing travel booking environment. Although passengers can access a wide range of rail and air services, combining these options into a single corporate itinerary can remain challenging.

Business travel programmes frequently depend on centralised booking systems that allow employees to arrange journeys while following company travel policies. These platforms also help travel managers monitor expenditure, identify preferred suppliers and maintain visibility over employee movements.

However, when transport content is unavailable through established corporate booking channels, travellers may need to make separate reservations directly with individual operators. This can reduce the visibility of bookings and make it more difficult for organisations to maintain consistent oversight.

The proposed EU reforms offer an opportunity to improve this situation by supporting wider access to rail services and enabling more effective comparisons between different forms of transport.

Greater integration would allow corporate booking platforms to present rail journeys alongside relevant air services, helping travellers select options based on journey time, cost, company requirements and environmental considerations.

Such improvements could be particularly valuable for journeys where rail provides a practical alternative to short-distance flights or where combining transport modes offers a more convenient route to the final destination.

Fair Access to Rail Ticketing Content Could Strengthen Competition and Traveller Choice

GBTA has placed particular emphasis on ensuring that rail and multimodal travel information becomes available to authorised booking and distribution providers under fair and transparent conditions.

Its position supports access based on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory principles, commonly known as FRAND terms. This approach is intended to prevent unjustified differences in how travel content is made available to competing distribution channels.

For travel management companies, online booking platforms and other authorised intermediaries, access to comprehensive information is essential for presenting meaningful travel choices.

Without sufficient access to fares, schedules, availability and relevant booking conditions, corporate travel systems may struggle to display the full range of services that employees could use.

Improved distribution arrangements could help address this limitation while encouraging competition among transport providers and booking services.

The benefits would also extend to corporate customers seeking greater transparency when comparing different travel options. Access to more complete information would make it easier to evaluate available routes and select arrangements that meet operational and financial requirements.

GBTA’s recommendations therefore connect fair content distribution with the wider ambition of developing a European passenger transport market that offers more choice without sacrificing the efficiency of established corporate booking processes.

Travel Management Companies Need Stronger Powers to Handle Changes, Refunds and Disruptions

Access to travel content represents only one part of an effective booking system. GBTA has also stressed that authorised travel intermediaries must be able to manage reservations after tickets have been purchased.

Under its recommendations, travel management companies, online booking tools and authorised distributors should receive servicing capabilities comparable to those offered through transport operators’ direct booking channels.

These functions include changing reservations, arranging alternative journeys, processing cancellations and handling refunds.

The distinction is especially important for business travellers whose plans can change at short notice. Meetings may be rescheduled, professional commitments may run longer than expected, or transport disruptions may require immediate changes to an itinerary.

When a reservation can only be modified directly through the original transport provider, travellers and corporate travel teams may face additional administrative work and delays.

Providing equivalent servicing functions through corporate booking systems could reduce these difficulties and allow travel managers to respond more efficiently.

It would also help companies maintain a clearer record of changes and associated expenditure, supporting more accurate reporting and stronger compliance with internal travel procedures.

For GBTA, meaningful integration must therefore include both the ability to purchase tickets and the ability to manage them throughout the entire journey.

Corporate Travel Policies and Sustainability Goals Must Remain Protected

Another significant element of GBTA’s position concerns the importance of preserving corporate control over how travel options appear within booking platforms.

Business travel programmes often operate under detailed policies that guide employees towards approved suppliers, negotiated fares and transport arrangements that meet organisational requirements.

These policies may also reflect employee safety obligations, budget restrictions and sustainability commitments.

GBTA believes that the proposed European rules should continue to allow companies to determine how relevant travel options are displayed and ranked within their booking systems.

This flexibility would enable organisations to prioritise preferred suppliers or negotiated commercial arrangements while ensuring that employees can identify journeys that comply with company policies.

Environmental considerations are also becoming increasingly important in corporate travel planning. Businesses seeking to reduce travel-related emissions may wish to highlight suitable rail options when they offer a practical alternative to flying.

However, the ability to support these objectives depends on access to reliable transport information and booking systems capable of presenting relevant alternatives.

By protecting policy-based displays and rankings, the reforms could allow corporate travel programmes to balance commercial priorities, traveller requirements and sustainability objectives without losing control over established booking arrangements.

Stronger Passenger Rights Could Make Multi-Operator Journeys More Reliable

Passenger protection forms another major component of the proposed reforms, particularly for journeys involving multiple transport operators.

When travellers purchase connecting services from different providers, responsibility for assistance can become complicated if an earlier service is delayed or cancelled.

A missed connection may leave passengers uncertain about whether they are entitled to alternative transport, reimbursement or other support.

GBTA is advocating a clearer approach under which journeys purchased in a single transaction would be treated as one protected journey.

This principle would help establish more consistent expectations regarding responsibility when a disruption affects an itinerary involving several operators.

For business travellers, such protection could be particularly important during cross-border rail journeys or trips that combine different transport services.

Rather than requiring passengers to resolve problems separately with each provider, a more coordinated system could offer clearer assistance and reduce uncertainty.

GBTA has also emphasised that the priority should be helping passengers complete their journeys wherever possible.

Its recommendations include timely rerouting, protection for onward connections and automatic rebooking when operationally feasible.

These measures could reduce the practical consequences of disruption and provide travellers with greater confidence when choosing more complicated itineraries.

Coordinated EU Legislation Could Deliver Lasting Benefits for Europe’s Business Travel Industry

GBTA’s position makes clear that the individual elements of the EU Passenger Package should not be considered in isolation. Instead, the organisation supports treating the three legislative proposals as parts of a connected framework.

The effectiveness of improved ticket distribution depends partly on whether travellers can also manage their bookings through the same channels. Similarly, the value of multimodal booking increases when passengers have clear rights and access to assistance if connections are disrupted.

A coordinated approach would bring these elements together, creating a stronger relationship between ticket availability, booking management and passenger protection.

For corporate travel programmes, this could improve operational efficiency while reducing the complications associated with fragmented transport arrangements.

Travel management companies could gain more consistent access to services, employees could benefit from simpler booking experiences, and businesses could maintain greater visibility over their travel activities.

The reforms could also support wider European transport objectives by making it easier for passengers to consider rail and combined transport journeys when planning trips.

Nevertheless, the practical benefits will depend on the final legislative provisions and how effectively they are implemented across the transport and travel distribution industries.

As negotiations continue, GBTA’s recommendations highlight the importance of ensuring that passenger rights and commercial booking requirements develop together.

The organisation’s broader message is that a genuinely connected European travel system must provide more than access to tickets. It must also allow travellers and their representatives to manage journeys effectively, respond to unexpected changes and receive appropriate support when disruption occurs.

For Europe’s business travel industry, the EU Passenger Package presents an opportunity to move towards a more integrated transport environment in which booking convenience, corporate travel management and passenger protection work together to make journeys simpler and more dependable.