Ryanair Compensation Policy Confounds Passengers

Two men, both of whom applied for compensation related to the same canceled flight, were left confused after the budget carrier awarded recompense to one, but not the other.

Two Ryanair passengers have been left baffled after one received compensation for a canceled flight while the other was denied recompense, Metro.co.uk reports. David Drummond and Alistair Rae, who had flown from Glasgow to Warsaw last month, were booked to return to the UK on Ryanair Flight 4742, which was scheduled to depart the city on October 16.

However, the men were informed that FR4742 had been canceled due to Storm Ophelia. Both were then left to make their way back from Poland to the Scottish city of Aberdeen with an alternative carrier. They then stayed overnight in an Aberdeen hotel and finally arrived back in Glasgow via train the following day.

The carrier gave each man a refund of £29.59 ($30) for the canceled flights – however, despite both applying for compensation to cover their alternative flights plus Aberdeen accommodation and train tickets, the outlet reports that only Rae received a refund of £160 ($211) from the airline.

The carrier declined Drummond’s application for compensation via e-mail, saying, “We sincerely regret the cancellation of your flight FR4742 from Warsaw to Glasgow on the 16/10/17, which was due to adverse weather conditions (Storm Ophelia), outside of our control. As this cancellation was unexpected and therefore outside Ryanair’s control we regret to advise that no monetary compensation is due under EU regulation 261/2004.”

EU 261/2004 is a European Union directive which governs flight compensation within the bloc.

Rae, who had received compensation from Ryanair without any sort of notification, expressed his bafflement, saying, “Obviously we were doing exactly the same journey and in the same situation so it doesn’t make sense why I got a refund and David didn’t.”

A Ryanair spokesperson told the outlet, “This flight was canceled due to safety concerns over Storm Ophelia that day. As this was an ‘exceptional circumstances’ cancellation, no EU261 compensation is due, but both passengers received their chosen option of a refund of their unused air fare. It appears that Mr Rae subsequently received a €250 ($291) EU261 compensation payment due to an admin error by one of our reservations agents.”

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