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Sinead Ryan: Why Ryanair has to refund all your expenses

Sinead Ryan said the passenger should go directly to the Aviation Regulator for a compensation claim
Jack Quann
Jack Quann

14.27 13 Mar 2023


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Sinead Ryan: Why Ryanair has t...

Sinead Ryan: Why Ryanair has to refund all your expenses

Jack Quann
Jack Quann

14.27 13 Mar 2023


Share this article


A listener who said her flight was delayed may be entitled to compensation, as well as all their expenses.

That's according to Sinead Ryan, consumer journalist and host of The Home Show.

Maria told Lunchtime Live she was due to fly with several family members for a 30th birthday party on Friday on a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Bristol.

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This flight was delayed several times.

She said they were told to sort out accommodation and come back on Saturday morning for a 9.30am flight.

Maria said she could see no 9.30am flight on the website, so they did not return to the airport.

They never made it to Bristol and lost all their hotel expenses as a result.

What to do?

Sinead has this advice for Maria.

"Nothing is going to make up for you missing that party and all that went on," she said.

"I'm confident in telling you not only will you get your money back, [but] Ryanair had a responsibility there, by law, to put you up for the night in accommodation.

"If they are rerouting you to the following morning, they are obliged to give you food, put up in the hotel, get you transported in and out to that hotel and back to the airport.

"The fact that they said, 'Sort yourselves out and put in a claim' that's not really acceptable.

"There is no doubt to me that you will get all of your expenses back.

"When I say 'all of them', I mean all of them.

"You need to keep receipts for everything from the car park to the petrol to everything that you have".

Compensation

Sinead said since these delays happened less than seven days before departure, compensation could also be an option.

"There's a very strong possibility that, in addition, you will also be entitled to compensation of €250 per passenger," she said.

"That's a separate claim to the expenses... the €250 compensation will be a tussle between why Ryanair said the flight was cancelled, and whether or not it comes in under this extraordinary measures clause under EU261".

Passengers wait to board a 'redeye' early morning flight at Dublin Airport in May 2010. Passengers wait to board a 'redeye' early morning flight at Dublin Airport in May 2010. Picture by: Peter Titmuss / Alamy Stock Photo

Sinead said to lessen stress, Maria should go directly to the Aviation Regulator for the compensation claim.

"It's aviationreg.ie: they run a service called flightrights.ie and there's a form there you can fill out.

"You attach everything to it, you fire it off to them and they are obliged to sort this out.

"You'll hear back within about five or six weeks about that compensation claim, and that is an obligation that the State will place on Ryanair".

In a statement, Ryanair said: "This flight from Dublin to Bristol (10 Mar) was delayed overnight due to adverse weather conditions in the UK, which were entirely beyond Ryanair’s control.

"Affected passengers were notified and subsequently updated via email and SMS.

"This flight departed for Bristol at 10.35 the following morning (11 Mar) when weather conditions improved".

Main image: A Ryanair logo is seen on an Android mobile device with the word 'Cancelled' in the background in July 2018. Picture by: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo

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Accommodation Aviation Regulator Bristol Dublin EU261 Flightrights.ie Lunchtime Live Ryanair Sinead Ryan The Home Show

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