Steer clear of FLIGHT CHAOS
Know your rights and don’t let Ryanair and air traff ic controller strikes play havoc with your summer holiday
Ryanair’s pilots’ strike may be just the start of a summer of chaos for holidaymakers. Pilots in many other countries are also gearing up to air their grievances in the coming weeks. And air traffic controllers are also set to strike in the key summer months, which could cause havoc for holiday-making families across the continent.
The Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) has urged passengers to bone up on their extensive rights and entitlements so they don’t miss out on potential claims – which can be backdated for up to six years.
The EU law covering air passenger rights is known as EC 261. It requires airlines to provide alternative flights, accommodation and refreshments for stranded passengers.
And passengers may also deserve financial compensation in certain cases for inconvenience caused by long flight delays and cancellations.
Passengers on EU flights eligible under EC 261 may be paid up to €600 in compensation for flight delays of more than three hours.
So what are passengers entitled to?
FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS: RE-ROUTE OR REFUND
If your flight was cancelled you must be offered the following choices: re-routing as soon as possible; re-routing at a later date at your convenience; or a refund. If you choose to be re-routed as soon as possible, the airline must provide you with care and assistance while you wait for the alternative flight.
Care and assistance means meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time. It also includes: hotel accommodation where an overnight stay becomes necessary; transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other);
two free telephone calls/access to email.
‘If Ryanair does not provide the care and assistance described above, passengers should make their own reasonable arrangements and retain all receipts in the process,’ a CAR spokesman said.
‘Passengers are advised to submit copies of these receipts directly to Ryanair.’
FLIGHT DELAYS: CARE AND ASSISTANCE
If your flight is delayed for more than two hours, the airline must provide you with care and assistance.
If your flight is delayed by more than five hours, it must offer you the choice between continuing your journey or a refund of the cost of your ticket.
But it is not possible for passengers to travel and then avail of a full refund for the cost of the flight.
EXTRAORDINARY COMPENSATION
Passengers are entitled to compensation where a flight is cancelled or delayed by over three hours, except where the cancellation/delay is due to extraordinary circumstances. The CAR spokesman confirmed to the MoS that it does not consider the pilots’ strike to be ‘extraordinary circumstance’. This view has been challenged by Ryanair, which claims the union actions are outside its control and therefore ‘extraordinary’. With the weight of the consumer watchdog’s opinion behind them, passengers should make a claim with Ryanair anyway and, if refused, go to the CAR.
NOT EVERYONE IS EQUAL...
Holidaymakers travelling with a non-EU airline flying from a nonEU destination (such as with United Airlines from Orlando) do not enjoy the same support as those travelling within the EU. The airline is not legally obliged to offer any cash sums for such delays. But check an airline’s own conditions of carriage as it may have arrangements for compensation.
FIND THE RIGHT TRAVEL INSURANCE
Travellers hoping to claim for delays on their holiday insurance may be disappointed at the derisory sums offered that are hardly worth claiming.
You may also find that the bill for an extra night’s accommodation or extra day’s car hire is not covered by your policy.
‘If you want these kind of losses covered you have to find a policy that covers delays that are “beyond your reasonable control”,’ says Fiona MacRae of website Travel Insurance Explained.
Passengers who remain unclear about their entitlements or who have further queries, should contact CAR on 1890 787 787 or (01) 661 1700.
Or you can visit its website, flightrights.ie to make complaints and download claims forms.