The European Council and the European Parliament have agreed on new rules meant to put an end to one of the airlines' most hated tricks - hidden costs. The most important change for passengers: free hand baggage becomes the standard, and the rights to compensation for delays are strengthened too.

For anyone who's ever bought a "cheap" plane ticket and then paid more for the suitcase than for the flight, this is good news. The idea is to eliminate precisely those hidden surcharges that turned the starting price into a marketing scam - an appealing number on the screen, a completely different sum at the end.

The rules apply to flights within the European Union, which means they directly affect passengers from our region who fly to and through the EU. The increased compensation obligations for delays also tip the balance slightly in the passenger's favor - at least on paper.

Why Balkan skepticism applies here too: a rule on paper is one thing, enforcement is another. Airlines are masters at finding new ways to charge - if not for the baggage, then for seat selection, for priority boarding, for something. It's good that the EU is drawing the line; the question is how long it'll take the companies to find a new loophole. Until then, at least the hand suitcase travels for free.