'Is it fair for Ryanair to pay compensation?' poll discussion

jenjen_mt

I was one of the people whose flight was cancelled due to the volcanic ash. Thankfully I knew about the cancellation on the outward leg of my journay and didn't travel to the airport.

I applied for a full refund on line about 3 weeks ago. The flight cost me £79.98 in total but a few days ago ryanair said they would refund me my flight cost of £20 (???). I wrote back to say that my flight cost £80 - I can't fathom where they got £20 as even had they refused to refund the taxes and charges it would have been more than £20. They never answered back and today I see that only £20 has been credited to my account.

I can only think that Ryanair is chancing their arm here. Many people might not remember how much they had originally paid and think they have been refunded in full. Anyone else fallen victim to this?

I've written again but sending e-mails to ryanair seems futile!

Jenny

Essex123

In my opinion, many types of business have regulations and laws that they need to operate within. A sensible business will take these into account when setting their prices. Businesses might choose to insure against certain operational risks, or they might decide it is better to save the insurance premium, and "self-insure" - i.e. foot the bill themselves if the 1 in 100 year event happens.

Ryanair would have known that one of their risks at some point in time was a large scale claim on the EU regulations. It's their business as to whether they insure against this or not, but if they choose to fly their planes in the EU they agree to these regulations none-the-less.

Now Ryanair are having to pay out, they're kicking up a stink. This is natural as they have to do what is best for their shareholders, however I have no sympathy. Who knows, they will probably end up adding a £5 per flight "EU-surcharge" which will increase to £10 per flight in the summer months when it will cost them more to pay for any accommodation. If priced realistically, this might be a good idea - those who fly pay. However, would Ryanair price it realistically?

One final thought to put this in context. Ryanair just reported annual profits of EUR319m, and reckon the ash crisis will cost them EUR50m this year.