Really? I mean Really? O’Leary and Ryanair admit to a mistake?
Apparently so!
In a climbdown over yesterdays position to limit the liablity to the cost of the ticket, Ryanair will now cover all “reasonable” expenses.
In the usual tirade, The Odious Little Man described EU261 (the rules for passenger care) as flawed
In quotes…
“The events of the last seven days, under which Europe’s airlines were prevented from flying by the closure of European airspace, highlight how absurd and discriminatory the EU261 regulations are towards Europe’s airlines,”
Diddums. That’s why they’re there!
“While competitor ferry, coach and train operators are obliged to reimburse passengers’ reasonable expenses, this reimbursement is limited to the ticket price paid to those operators.
“Yet the airlines are required by regulation to meet potentially unlimited expenses, in circumstances where there has been a catastrophic closure of European airspace over the past seven days, as EU governments and regulators wrongly applied a blanket ban on flights over European airspace.
Well you could always set up RyanFerries if you want those rules.
“We will continue to work through the European Low Fares Airlines Association and other industry bodies to persuade the European Commission and the European Parliament to alter this regulation to put this reasonable limit on these reimbursement claims.”
Temper temper mon Capitan! The rules whilst may not be ideal are there to protect the consumer in situations that call for it.
This is an “exceptional” situation, and it’s most likely there will be EU Compensation paid out. Like any expense – keep it reasonable and don’t take the peanut – and you’ll get compensated.
However this will put EC261 under pressure in the future…
