Ryanair cancelled flight from Faro

[shilly]

Hi help please, my nephew his wife and baby’s flight back from Faro to Manchester tomorrow evening has been cancelled they say due to French air traffic strike and they have accepted the refund as they said there was no alternative offered and they have booked new flights for Saturday on easyjet are they entitled now to claim delay compensation? Wasn’t sure as Ryanair said it was out of their control.

[JDB]

As the reason for cancellation is the French ATC strike tomorrow, that would count as ‘extraordinary circumstances’ for Ryanair to get out of paying cancellation/delay compensation. As they have accepted a refund, the airline’s duty of care obligations ceased at that point.

Obviously, your nephew’s position is that he made the decision to take a refund because FR didn’t properly advise him of his statutory rights, so he could make a case for accommodation and food costs and the shortfall in refund value vs cost of new flights but it’s a tricky case to make.

As many have advised on here, anyone in this situation needs to make and record details of serious efforts to get the airline to reroute/rebook and ask for duty of care and only when this has been clearly refused, make alternative arrangements to be claimed later.

[Lady London]

Yup. Soon as you take a refund the airline gets away with not providibg you what they are legally obliged to provide free of charge.

Specifically, if they cancel your flight, assuming it’s a UK or European airline any flight in the world, or any airline at all operating a flight out of UK or Europe, your rights include

– to be rerouted on another flight, even on another airline if needed, at no cost to you no matter what price the replacement flights are now selling for

– or to choose a later date to travel that is convenient to *you*

– all meals and any acconmodation needed until your replacement flight if you chose to reroute as near as possible to the timing of your cancelled flight.

– it’s you that has the option to take a refund, or the above choices. But you can imagine how an airline will try hard to force or fool you to take a refund. Generally, don’t because so long as you don’t take any refund, the airline either must provide the above (and make sure you try to ask them) or will be responsible for reimbursing the above.