Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Ryanair ONLY

Ich_2

Getting it onto page 1

Sunny65

I was delayed nearly 7 hours coming back from Malta to the UK on the 8/8/12. As I haven't got any boarding passes, emails etc to confirm that I was on the flight, is it worth me trying to claim compensation? I remember them afterwards sending an email apologising for the delay but I didn't keep that either. I have managed to find the flight and the confirmation of delay on a Flight status website, will this be enough? I know they are supposed to be a budget airline but tbh I paid pretty much the same as other flights because of the school holidays.
After sitting in an airport lounge for that length of time it pretty much put a dampener on a wonderful holiday. Very frustrating.

blondmark

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blondmark

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JPears

blondmark wrote: »

So I've received a defence from Ryanair and it may be helpful for anyone else suing them to study it HERE, and my response is HERE.

So firstly I'd like to extend my gratitude to the helpful chap who drafted Ryanair's defence, whose first step was to admit the claim in its entirety. (See Question 1: "Do you accept the claim? Answer: Yes" - Well thanks very much ... erm .. I guess that's it then!)

They have asked for a full hearing with a lawyer, despite our right as consumers to have the judgment decided on the paperwork. They have also asked for £250 in costs that they are not entitled to in the small claims track.

So their first defence is citing a county court judgment called Clissold HERE that wasn't properly defended, and which has now been overruled. In this case Ryanair struck it lucky with their 2 year limitation clause for bringing a claim, which a judge unfamiliar with 261/2004 let through. Unfamiliar because if you go to Article 15 of Regulation you can see that any attempt by an airline to limit consumer rights under 261/2004 in a contract is absolutely prohibited. (I'll pop a note in the Thomson forum about that).

“Exclusion of waiver
1. Obligations vis-à-vis passengers pursuant to this Regulation may not be limited or waived, notably by a derogation or restrictive clause in the contract of carriage.”

This is one of those 'knock-on' from a previous extraordinary circumstances claims, and Ryanair helpfully provided proof of the weather conditions for the previous diverted flight, which also serves to prove that the weather had cleared up in time for my flight. (Thanks very much again!).

More silliness from Ryanair's lawyer who places Marrakech within the European Union and under 1,500 kilometres from London. As we all know Morocco is not in the EU and Marrakech is 2,300 kilmoetres away.

Then a blatant try on - 'we reimbursed the passengers for refreshments so that's our entire liability for the four hour delay'. Erm ... I don't think so!

Their final gem is Ryanair's main defence: “unavoidable circumstances”. Love it! I haven't seen that one mentioned in the Regulation. I wonder if they meant to say “extraordinary circumstances”?!

So you can see that Ryanair are a pretty decent bunch really - they don't want to make it too hard for you to claim, so don't be put off - they're very generous with their breaks.

Lol, it has taken me 5 minutes to pick myself up of the floor - ROFL:o

richardw

Excellent post blondmark, very interesting.

Vauban

Very good indeed, Blondmark. Back of the class to Ryanair, I think!

Slightly depressing that the DJ so obviously misunderstood the law - but the European cases since then (including the joined Nelson judgement) address the point about the Montreal Convention directly.

I thought your response was very well drafted. You will wipe the floor with them.

therealt

blondmark wrote: »

It seems that if you issue Form A in Ireland, it's really cheap, but the downside is that Ryanair can then suck you into the Irish appeal system and make it really expensive for you. So the English court fees are all you pay when issuing from England as you should. Something around £80.

This is a very dumb question: which part of EX50 tells you that it's £80?

Also, as a student with no annual income, can I enter a claim for free as per EX160A?

(Sorry I can't post links, but the documents are easily found via Google)

My flight was delayed because of snow, but other flights continued to leave the airport. Do I even have a basis to claim?

blondmark

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Dr_Watson

Blondmark- thanks for the excellent post.
Any chance you could PM me your response? I've tried opening the attachment in dropbox but all is blank in there. So it's either crashed with all the views or my iPad is still refusing to work after reading Ryanair's defence!
Thanks
Dr.Watson