hips don't lie: Ryanair WILL have to pay compensation to customers stranded by volcanic ash cloud, rules court

The European Court of Justice ruled that airlines must cover stranded customers’ costs
The ruling was made after passenger Denise McDonagh claimed 1,130 Euros after getting stranded in the 2010 ash cloud crisis
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said the ruling could see some airlines go bust

By
Steve Nolan and Sean Poulter

PUBLISHED:

12:26 EST, 31 January 2013

|

UPDATED:

02:28 EST, 1 February 2013

Ryanair has been told it must look after passengers when flights are grounded by natural catastrophes, strikes and technical faults.

The European Court of Justice ruling yesterday means the airline must cover the cost of meals, hotels and transport.

The case dates back to the disruption caused by the eruption of a volcano in Iceland in 2010.

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Angry: Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said that the European Court of Justice’s ruling may cause some airlines to go bust

Passengers were stranded across Europe. Ryanair alone cancelled 9,400 flights due to the ash cloud.

The ruling is a blow to Ryanair boss
Michael O’Leary, who at first refused to abide by EU laws which state
airlines should support stranded passengers until they fly them home.

After pressure from ministers, he was
forced into a U-turn, but Ryanair then became embroiled in a legal
battle to limit future refunds.

The ECJ ruling follows on from a
British court’s decision earlier this week to allow passengers to claim
damages after long delays, as reported in the Daily Mail yesterday.

The ruling was made after passenger Denise McDonagh was stranded in Faro, Portugal after volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted.

She claimed 1,130 Euros, or £970, to cover costs incurred while she was stuck.

The volcanic eruption left millions of passengers unable to return home because it was deemed too dangerous to fly through the ash clouds.

Today’s ruling could leave airlines open to a raft of future claims.

The court recognised compensation claims could have ‘substantial negative economic consequences’ for airlines, but said a high level of protection must be afforded to passengers.

The court also said airlines should foresee any costs but pointed out that ticket prices could be hiked as a result.

Mr O’Leary said the court’s decision made the airlines ‘insurers of last resort’ and said whoever was responsible for cancellations should pay compensation.

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Price hike? Budget airline Ryanair said that it may have to put its prices up due to a ruling that airlines must cover the cost of stranded passengers expenses

He blamed the Government for closing British airspace in 2010, even though ‘there was clearly no ash cloud over the UK.’

He said: ‘We now have a position that when the next time there’s an ash cloud or the skies are closed by Europe’s governments, the travel insurance companies will walk away and wash their hands and say it was an act of God and the airlines will become the insurers of last resort.’

‘Somebody who has paid us fifty quid to travel to the Canaries, who may be stuck there for two weeks, two months, six months, will now sue the airlines and you will have airlines going out of business, and the ones who stay in business will be putting up the air fares to recover these crazy claims.’

Mr O’Leary said Ryanair had paid out to everyone affected by the volcano eruption in 2010, including Ms McDonagh, but had still not covered costs despite introducing a compensation surcharge.

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Stranded: Hundreds of flights were cancelled in 2010 when a volcano erupted in Iceland

He added: ‘It’s a crazy decision, it’s another crazy decision coming from the European court.

‘You can’t expect us to be providing compensation for the world and his mother when we are prevented from flying.

‘Why does somebody have to pay? Why do we take responsibility for something that has been caused by others?

‘This compensation culture is running riot in this country.’

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) today reiterated its advice to passengers affected by flight delays and cancellations and advised passengers who were not being treated properly to contact them.

Passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled are entitled to assistance from the airline such as food, drinks and accommodation where necessary, the CAA said.

In addition, passengers whose flights have been cancelled at short notice or arrive three hours or more later than scheduled are also entitled to claim for compensation – unless the delay or cancellation was out of the airline’s control.

A CAA spokesman said: ‘These regulations are in place to protect people when things go wrong with their flights.

‘Anyone with concerns that they are not being treated correctly by their airline can contact the CAA for advice or to make a complaint.’

Ryanair also issued an official statement this afternoon warning of hikes in fares after the ruling.

It read: ‘Ryanair regrets the decision of the European Court which now allows passengers to claim for flight delays which are clearly and unambiguously outside of an airline’s control.

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Stuck: Passengers pictured stranded at Heathrow airport during the ash cloud crisis

‘Today’s decision will materially increase the cost of flying across Europe and consumer airfares will increase as airlines will be obliged to recover the cost of these claims from their customers, because the defective European regulation does not allow us to recover such costs from the governments or unions who are responsible for over 95 per cent of flight delays in Europe.’

Like other carriers, the airline said it had already paid out millions of pounds in compensation to passengers affected by the ash cloud.

But it contested Ms McDonagh’s case because it deemed the amount to be ‘excessive’.

The case centred around the EU 261 regulations, a European law which means carriers were obliged to refund the bills of thousands of passengers caught up in the crisis which put a ban on great swathes of airspace.

It was seen as a test case as Ryanair was the only airline to take a challenge to the European courts.

Last October the European Court decided that delays of more than three hours, where the airline was at fault – because of technical faults or lack of flight crew, for example – warranted compensation.

With 200million passengers using UK airports annually, and around 2million of those delayed by more than three hours, that may result in 400,000 fliers eligible for refunds every year.

British Airways, easyJet, Tui Travel and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had all opposed that ruling.

Compensation to British customers was put on hold until the final ruling in October.

The comments below have not been moderated.

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Charge planet earth for it’s naughty behavior

rex
,

droitwich uk, United Kingdom,
01/2/2013 12:57

Anything that anoys Ryanair is a good thing.

Limehouse Chappie
,

Kabul, Afghanistan,
01/2/2013 12:51

I’m loving it! I don’t agree with what the court’s said, but of it gets up O’Leary’s nose I’m all for it. The man is detestable (although I secretly admire his chutzpah, but don’t tell anyone!)

Marcus
,

London, United Kingdom,
01/2/2013 12:35

Just how big is this ‘compensation pot’ that everybody is being driven to? When will these European idiots learn that they are driving all businesses and countries to the dogs and MUST BE STOPPED!

Support for Reality
,

Bury,
01/2/2013 12:18

Another nail in the coffin of european busines!

bedford
,

Leighton Buzzard,
01/2/2013 12:04

This is ridiculous. Why not let this sort of thing be covered by travel insurance (which is at the treveller’s discretion). I suppose because the insurance companies would take forever to argue about who was responsible for the decision not to fly and whether the decision was justified and legally binding. Then they would want proof of cancellation etc. None of these are insoluble problems but the whole issue needs to be rethought through rather than simply force the airlines to inflate ticket prices and maintain their own insurance reserves that will probably eventually be converted into profit. In any event, a retrospective ruling seems to be unfair. On second/third thoughts, i wonder whether this insurance reserve already exists and has already been taken as profit …………! more information needed!

Mike
,

Coulsdon,
01/2/2013 11:58

‘This compensation culture is running riot in this country.’
I find myself in agreement with Mr O’Leary. What a stupid decision by the EU. The ban flights then expect carriers to compensate disrupted passengers. Unbelievable!

horseboi
,

Oxford,
01/2/2013 11:51

horseboi
,

Oxford,
01/2/2013 11:48

I myself would never been a fan of Rianair but have saying that was it not the Aviation Authorities who grounded all flights over the volcanic ash and are these people really saying that there was no need to ground aircraft at all and that they should have ignored the advice about the dangers and just carried on flying as far as I can see this sounds very dodgy indeed.

peter
,

manchester,
01/2/2013 11:45

In response to Robin, Southampton, 1/2/2013 10:21. You’ve obviously never had a business, then. And if you did, I know why you failed at it. A business is simply a product or service that it provides to win over the consumer to put his hands in his pocket and put it in the businessman’s bank account, in exchange for the product/service. I can assure you, this is one of the hardest things in the world. No business forces consumers to buy their product/service. We don’t have a free market in this country. We have a system that has become so regulated and nannied, that businesses have to learn how to play the rules just to stay in the game. I can assure you, if we had a truly free market, with no govt meddling, then every business would be incentivised to appeal to the best interests of the public in a bid to win their custom, rather than trying to fight against all the rules, which are exploited by those in cahoots with the govt. Or are you telling me you’re unable to think for yourself?

nunkey99
,

Warwick, United Kingdom,
01/2/2013 11:42

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Ryanair WILL have to pay compensation to customers stranded by volcanic ash cloud, rules court

hips don't lie

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