Sleeper offers discount to Ryanair passengers

Ryanair will implement measures to ensure passengers are aware of their rights

Passengers hit by Ryanair cancellations are being offered discounted rail travel between Scotland and London.

Caledonian Sleeper is offering a 20% discount until the end of February to passengers with cancelled Ryanair bookings.

The overnight train service said passengers can travel within a day of their original flight booking when they use the code “Ryanair” when booking.

Passengers must bring a copy of their original Ryanair booking.

Ticket prices in November cost from £36 for a seat, £64 for a shared cabin and £136 for a family ticket of two adults and two children.

Caledonian Sleeper managing director Keith Wallace said: “We want to give people affected by the Ryanair cancellations peace of mind.

“We offer an alternative way of travelling between Scotland and London, which will allow affected passengers to fulfil their previous travel arrangements, getting where they need to be as they originally planned.”

Ryanair has meanwhile agreed to implement measures to ensure all passengers affected by recent flight cancellations are “fully aware” of their rights and entitlements.

This will include passengers receiving full refunds or being booked on to alternative Ryanair flights or “other comparable transport options”, with reimbursement of “reasonable out-ofpocket expenses”.

The airline made the statement after meeting with Ireland’s Commission for Aviation Regulation.

The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority has accused the Dublin-based carrier of “not complying with the law” over its handling of the fiasco.

Ryanair has pledged to send a “clarification email” to customers outlining their rights and explaining how and when they will be booked on to other flights.

CAA guidelines state that, under European Union law, if an airline cancels a flight it must offer passengers an alternative flight.

Customers “may have the right” to be booked onto flights by an alternative airline if it would mean reaching their destination “significantly sooner”.

Ryanair said that if it is not able to offer a flight on the same or next day from the original or “suitable alternative airport”, then it will book passengers on to flights by either easyJet, Jet2, Vueling, CityJet, Aer Lingus, Norwegian or Eurowings airlines.

If those options are not available then it will offer “comparable alternative transport”, which may be a flight, train, bus or car hire, with costs “assessed on a case-by-case basis”.

We want to give people affected by the Ryanair cancellations peace of mind. KEITH WALLACE

Picture: PA. Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary. The Irish airline has cancelled up to 18,000 flights between November and next March.