Ryanair cancellation help

gums_2

As some of you may of seen from a post below, Ryanair have suspended booking on the Edinburgh to Zadar route this summer.

After finding that friends could no longer book the flight that i have already booked, some investigation has turned up the reason is that Ryanair are in discussions with Zadar airport re the route (presumably to do with fees that i gather Zadar pay Ryanair to drive tourism there) and that because of that no further bookings can currently be made.

However i have had no contact to inform me that my booked flight may be in jeopardy or cancelled, which leaves me with a dilemma.

Do i book an alternative route with another airline now, while there are still some left at a decent price (flight is to a popular festival this summer, so seats on all airlines will be close to selling out) and risk Ryanair reinstating the route and me losing out financially, or do i sit tight?

Aaaargh, surely there must be some ruling whereby Ryanair should offer me a refund now so that i can persue other avenues?!?!?!

jamesbrownontheroad

This is a tough one. Ryanair have done this before, suspending flights as a bargaining chip in ongoing negotiations. In most instances, the airport operator rolls over to the almighty Ryanair and agrees to cheaper terms. In some cases, airports have refused to play ball and not bowed to the blackmail; notably Manchester Airport which famously announced that "Ryanair made us an offer we could refuse" when the airline demanded cheaper charges. Ryanair closed its Manchester base, although a couple of daily flights still come in from Dublin.

Do you know whether the dispute is with Zadar or with Edinburgh? Although this is only my uninformed non-legally binding hunch, Ryanair's bargaining tactics with a small airport like Zadar are more likely to be successful than those with big airports that can rely on other business. That's because Zadar probably can't afford to lose Ryanair's business, even if it means taking a big cut.

But I could be wrong.

One thing is certain. If you choose to buy back-up flights with another airline and Ryanair do cancel the route, Ryanair won't reimburse you the cost of the new flights (they'll just refund the price you paid). Since it's really important to you to go, you could maybe buy alternative flights now with cancellation insurance, or perhaps consider a more expensive (but fully refundable) economy class fare with a full service airline (presumably Crotia Airlines or Lufthansa). If equivalent fares on other airlines are already high, you may find that a full fare refundable economy class ticket is not that much more expensive.

Sorry it's not certain advice. Best of luck!

Cityboy_2

gums wrote: »

As some of you may of seen from a post below, Ryanair have suspended booking on the Edinburgh to Zadar route this summer.

After finding that friends could no longer book the flight that i have already booked, some investigation has turned up the reason is that Ryanair are in discussions with Zadar airport re the route (presumably to do with fees that i gather Zadar pay Ryanair to drive tourism there) and that because of that no further bookings can currently be made.

However i have had no contact to inform me that my booked flight may be in jeopardy or cancelled, which leaves me with a dilemma.

Do i book an alternative route with another airline now, while there are still some left at a decent price (flight is to a popular festival this summer, so seats on all airlines will be close to selling out) and risk Ryanair reinstating the route and me losing out financially, or do i sit tight?

Aaaargh, surely there must be some ruling whereby Ryanair should offer me a refund now so that i can persue other avenues?!?!?!

There is no avenue to force Ryanair to refund your ticket unless they declare the flight cancelled. In that instance, they are legally bound to offer you either a reimbursement of the price you paid for your ticket or to re-route you (your choice). If Ryanair no longer service that route in future, then you could tell them that your choice is to be re-routed on another airline that does service that route.

The regulation is quite clear on this point:

Article 5
Cancellation
1. In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall:
(a) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 8; and
(b) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 9(1)(a) and 9(2), as well as, in event of re-routing when the reasonably expected time of departure of the new flight is at least the day after the departure as it was planned for the cancelled flight, the assistance specified in Article 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c); and
(c) have the right to compensation by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 7, unless:
(i) they are informed of the cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled time of departure; or
(ii) they are informed of the cancellation between two weeks and seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than two hours before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than four hours after the scheduled time of arrival; or
(iii) they are informed of the cancellation less than seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival.
2. When passengers are informed of the cancellation, an explanation shall be given concerning possible alternative transport.
3. An operating air carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation in accordance with Article 7, if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.
4. The burden of proof concerning the questions as to whether and when the passenger has been informed of the cancellation of the flight shall rest with the operating air carrier.

Article 8
Right to reimbursement or re-routing
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:
(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,
- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;
(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or
(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.
2. Paragraph 1(a) shall also apply to passengers whose flights form part of a package, except for the right to reimbursement where such right arises under Directive 90/314/EEC.
3. When, in the case where a town, city or region is served by several airports, an operating air carrier offers a passenger a flight to an airport alternative to that for which the booking was made, the operating air carrier shall bear the cost of transferring the passenger from that alternative airport either to that for which the booking was made, or to another close-by destination agreed with the passenger.

Ryanair may decide not to play ball with you and simply refund your fare. What you do then is up to you.

jamesbrownontheroad

The re-routing obligation is something to watch for. I've heard of Ryanair cancelling a route and offering some fairly loose interpretations of a re-route (i.e. putting you on another Ryanair flight to the nearest available destination and then sorting out a bus). I've never known them re-route onto another airline, as they have zero allegiance to any other carrier and have no participation in any airline alliance.

gums_2

thanks for the great advice, its certainly food for thought

regarding re-routing, there is another service that RyanAir offer from London Stanstead to Zadar which i could use - i actually live in between London & Edinburgh so that would work, although i imagine the flight will be full by the time something is sorted - thats the trouble with having to fly on specific popular dates.

in regards to whether its an issue with Zadar or Edinburgh airport - i was told Zadar by the booking agent i spoke to, altho the flights from Stanstead and Dublin to Zadar seem to be going ahead as planned so far, which is strange, it only seems to be the Pisa and Edinburgh flights to Zadar that are under review at the moment.

i'll look into options that have some kind of cancellation insurance as a back up, i think thats my best bet, but its sods law that only RyanAir offer flights from the UK to Zadar, so i'll have to fly into Split and transfer by coach.

fingers crossed anyway and thanks for all of your invaluable advice so far

jamesbrownontheroad

IIRC, Jadrolinija offer ferry service from Rijeka in northern Croatia and Ancona in Italy to Zadar. Could be a back-up plan: I used them between Rijeka and Dubrovnik a few years ago and they were comfortable, well maintained and safe ships.

gums_2

ive just learned today that the route will be put back online, but trimmed down from the original plan of flying March-September.

they will now fly June - Aug which will mean my flight will be okay afterall, thanks heavens for that :rotfl:

gums_2

it appears the info i found yesterday was incorrect - i received a notice of cancellation about 15mins ago

to ryanair's credit i managed to call straight up and get a transfer to the zadar flight from stanstead which has actually worked out better dates wise as i can now come back a day later and not miss the world cup final

all well that ends well i suppose and i do have to salute ryanair on actually being able to get thru and change the flights quickly and painlessly

youngsj3

A stupid question perhaps to which I am pretty sure of the answer but here it goes - if I ask for a re-route to fly from Stansted instead of Edinburgh will Ryanair cover my travel costs?

How can all us disgruntled Ryanair customers hit them where it hurts to stop them treating us like this? What is our legal position and can someone post a standard legal letter we can all send to them which they cannot ignore - perhaps that will make them re-think what is purely a bully boy tactic rather than an 'extraordinary event'.

Any lawyers out there?

Cityboy_2

youngsj3 wrote: »

A stupid question perhaps to which I am pretty sure of the answer but here it goes - if I ask for a re-route to fly from Stansted instead of Edinburgh will Ryanair cover my travel costs?

How can all us disgruntled Ryanair customers hit them where it hurts to stop them treating us like this? What is our legal position and can someone post a standard legal letter we can all send to them which they cannot ignore - perhaps that will make them re-think what is purely a bully boy tactic rather than an 'extraordinary event'.

Any lawyers out there?

Youngsj

To answer your last question first, IANAL. To answer your first question may need a further question answered: has your flight been cancelled and where were you headed?

If you have indeed suffered from a cancellation, you can ask to be re-routed or reimbursed, your choice. Article 8 states:

Article 8
Right to reimbursement or re-routing
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:
(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,
- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;
(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or
(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.
2. Paragraph 1(a) shall also apply to passengers whose flights form part of a package, except for the right to reimbursement where such right arises under Directive 90/314/EEC.
3. When, in the case where a town, city or region is served by several airports, an operating air carrier offers a passenger a flight to an airport alternative to that for which the booking was made, the operating air carrier shall bear the cost of transferring the passenger from that alternative airport either to that for which the booking was made, or to another close-by destination agreed with the passenger.

As you can see the regulation doesn't state that you might not be re-routed in the way you suggest but you will be at the mercy of the carrier I guess. The full text of EC 261/2004 is as follows: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004R0261:EN:HTML

As to a standard legal letter sent to Ryanair that they cannot ignore, the only way that you can force them to listen to you is by taking legal action via the small claims court. Since Ryanair are based in Eire that can be tricky but not impossible.

There is another method called the European small claims procedure which may be rather more practical against Ryanair. More about this here: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/consumers/protection_of_consumers/l16028_en.htm

If you are seeking compensation under Article 7, you might like to consult the forum at Flightmole: http://www.flightmole.com/forum/index.php. The guys on there really know their stuff and there may be some cases similar to your own.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

Cityboy_2

Posters and others interested in the re-route option might like to read the following thread on www.flightmole.com regarding an instance where a passenger has been refunded for her re-routed flight: http://www.flightmole.com/forum/show...=3616#post3616