Ryanair has reversed its position on reimbursing passengers stranded across Europe as a result of the volcanic ash cloud.
In a statement issued this morning the airline confirmed that it will now comply with regulations under which airlines are required to reimburse the reasonable receipted expenses of disrupted passengers.
The regulations state that airlines have to offer passengers affected by flight cancellations a refund or a rerouting on the next available flight and mandate that airlines are obliged to provide accommodation and refreshment for passengers who choose to be rerouted.
Yesterday the airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary described as "absurd" the legal obligations which European airlines have to passengers affected by cancelled flights and he insisted that Ryanair would not cover the accommodation or food costs of passengers over and above the "original air fare paid by each passenger."
Mr O'Leary said this morning that the airline had performed the U-turn after bowing to pressure from its passengers and the media but stressed that the move was not in response to demands form governments or regulatory authorities. "We recognise our mistake. We hold up our hands. We have not caved in to pressure from some idiot politician."
He said that the claims for reimbursement would have to be reasonable. "Clearly you can't check yourself into the five start Palazzo Hilton in the middle of Madrid at €2,000 a night and send us a bill for seven days. I think everyone knows what reasonable accommodation and what reasonable meals cost."
Mr O'Leary said that 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."
"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."
He said that Ryanair had campaigned for these reimbursements under passenger rights legislation to be limited to the ticket price paid in the same way they are for train, coach and ferry operators.
“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”.
Ryanair also confirmed that it was operating a full schedule of flights between Ireland and Continental Europe and the UK and Continental Europe, together with a programme of extra flights from the UK and Ireland to Spain, Italy and the Canary Islands to re-accommodate passengers disrupted by the closure of EU airspace for much of the past seven days.
All Ryanair flights, including those between Ireland and the United Kingdom, will operate from 5am tomorrow.
