Ryanair has clarified its refund and re-routing process due to significant pressure from authorities. The airline announced its first phase of cancellations on September 16th and another phase on September 18th. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launched enforcement action against Ryanair for allegedly providing misleading information about customers’ rights.
On September 18th, the UK CAA wrote to Ryanair to clarify their legal obligations and sought assurances on how and when Ryanair would reroute passengers onto alternative flights. On September 27th, Ryanair announced another 18,000 cancellations. The airline allegedly failed again to provide customers with accurate information about their rights, particularly regarding rerouting and care and assistance entitlements, which include expenses.
Following the latest phase of cancellations, the CAA expedited enforcement action against Ryanair. On September 29th, Ryanair met with the Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) and agreed to implement a series of steps.
Ryanair has also responded to the UK CAA, agreeing to meet its requirements for customer clarification on Ryanair’s EU261 obligations, which align with those requested by the CAR.
Customers will receive a full refund for any unused flight sector and associated fees. If the disrupted flight is their outbound sector, they will also be offered a full refund for the return sector.
Under EU261, Ryanair will reimburse any reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by customers due to these flight cancellations, provided they submit an EU261 expense claim form supported by original receipts.