Ryanair ‘breaking law’ with flight cancellations
RYANAIR is breaking the law in its handling of flight cancellations, the boss of the UK’s aviation regulator has claimed.
Andrew Haines, chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), said he was “furious” with the Dublin-based carrier because it is not telling passengers they are entitled to be re-routed by other airlines.
“They are not making it clear to people their entitlement,” Mr Haines said.
“If they follow through on what they are saying then they would be breaking the law.”
A Ryanair spokesman said: “We will be meeting with the CAA and will comply fully with whatever requirements they ask us to.”
The comments came as it emerged five Scottish routes are among those to be hit by Ryanair’s latest decision to axe an extra 18,000 flights in a move that will hit 400,000 customers.
The Irish carrier said it will fly 25 fewer aircraft between November and March as part of efforts to end a wave of cancellations that has already seen 2000 flights grounded, after the firm miscalculated pilot leave.
Taking more flights out of service means Ryanair will be able to “roster all of the extra pilot leave necessary’’ in October, November and December, the budget airline said. As a result, 34 routes are suspended for the winter season from November to March 2018.
Among them are several popular routes used by travellers from Scotland, including London Stansted to Edinburgh and Glasgow, Edinburgh to Szczecin, Glasgow to Las Palmas as well as Hamburg to Edinburgh.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has blamed the move on mismanagement of pilots’ annual leave, leading to the over-allocation of blocks of holidays.
The flight cancellations have so far cost the airline around 25 million euros. Ryanair said the latest step will “eliminate all risk of further flight cancellations’’ and remove the risk of similar problems recurring next year.