Ryanair flight cancellations: Airline braced for court battle over fresh wave of problems

Legal action: The CAA has taken a step towards launching legal action against Ryanair
AP
Fiona Simpson28 September 2017

Ryanair has been threatened with legal action by the UK’s aviation watchdog following a fresh wave of flight cancellations.

The Civil Aviation Authority has launched “enforcement action” against the firm over claims the company “persistently misled” customers over their rights after thousands of flights were cancelled.

So-called enforcement action is the first step towards a court battle.

The CAA, which is responsible for regulating all civil aviation in Britain, said Ryanair was wrong to claim it did not have to re-route passengers on rival airlines.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has apologised to customers
PA

Hundreds of thousands of passengers were hit with fresh disappointment as the firm cancelled a further 18,000 flights on Wednesday.

A total of 34 routes will be suspended over winter, including Stansted to Edinburgh and Glasgow, Gatwick to Belfast and Newcastle to Faro.

Earlier this month, the airline cancelled up to 50 flights a day until the end of October, leaving 400,000 passengers stranded or forced to take different flights.

Ryanair planes at Stansted Airport, one of the worst affected by the cancellations
AP

On both occasions, the airline failed to give customers “necessary and accurate” information about their rights, the regulator said.

Bosses claimed details posted on Ryanair’s website about failed to inform passengers of the expenses they were entitled to.

Expenses include hotels, meals, and the cost of using rival airlines to complete their journeys if necessary, the CAA said.

Ryanair also failed to meet the CAA’s request to make a statement ensuring customers were not misled during the second wave of cancellations, the aviation authority added.

CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said in a statement: “There are clear laws in place, which are intended to assist passengers in the event of a cancellation, helping minimise both the frustration and inconvenience caused by circumstances completely out of their control.

“We have made this crystal clear to Ryanair, who are well aware of their legal obligations.

“The information Ryanair published (yesterday) again fails to makes this clear.”

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said it was "in correspondence with the CAA and have requested an early meeting to address their concerns”, the BBC reported.

The airline has said that passengers affected by the move will be offered alternative flights or full refunds and had been emailed about advising them of flight changes occurring until the end of October.

They will also be offered vouchers of 40 euros (£35) one way, or 80 euros return, towards alternative flights on top of any refund.

Ryanair blamed the cancellations on the overbooking of pilot holidays.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT