Did you even need to guess? Of course it’s our favourite LCC… Ryanair!
Ryanair is proposing to limit its liability during the Volcano Ash incident to the price of the ticket paid, and no more.
However EC261 politely reminds that they are liable for “reasonable” costs in terms of food and accommodation
To quote the ODM:
“There’s no legislation designed that says any airline getting a fare of €30 should be reimbursing passengers many thousands of euros for hotel accommodation. It’s absurd. I don’t have a problem with everything being grounded for a day or two but there should have been a much faster response by the governments and transport ministers and by the regulators. This is one of these issues we want addressed – why exactly are the airlines expected to be reimbursing people’s hotels, meals and everything else when the governments are the ones who made a balls of this?”
Other airlines – whilst not jumping ontop of this, have expressed that EC261 must be re-examined – FlyBe has said this in so many words (even though they will cover the payouts..
Meanwhile TUI Group (TUI, Thomsom etc) customers may have a very nasty shock with customers being told that they would have to pay the difference if an alternative flight the passenger chooses is more expensive.
“Tui UK and Ireland can confirm that customers who rebook to a different flight of their choice which is more expensive than their original must cover the difference themselves. Similarly, if the flight is cheaper Thomson Airways will refund the difference,”
What was an inconvenience is now rapidly turning into a money – and sadly – a legal issue. I’m sure lawyers on both sides will love the oncoming payday…
Sources:
The Guardian
BBC News
