Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Ryanair ONLY

JPears

Letter before action. You also need to download and read Vauban's superb guide for further information.

Artyfarty6101

Hi chaps,
Ryanair of course said no to compensation citing bad weather and also no to reasonable costs as they say we didn't try to rebook or speak to them. Of course we did as they did put us up at their expense for 1 night and no Ryanair flights available to get us home for 6 days. We were abandoned and left to find our own way home.
I am also contesting the bad weather claim as other flights took off and landed. So I have tried to look up my flight details and aircraft movements on the night. I even signed up to a website it had ALL flights every day for my flight number except on the day in question.
Could someone with much more experience than me please look it up and see what actually happened? Thanks
Flight no. FR8583 from Thessaloniki to London Stansted on 30/09/2018
Thanks hope someone can help

Tyzap

Artyfarty6101 wrote: »

Hi chaps,
Ryanair of course said no to compensation citing bad weather and also no to reasonable costs as they say we didn't try to rebook or speak to them. Of course we did as they did put us up at their expense for 1 night and no Ryanair flights available to get us home for 6 days. We were abandoned and left to find our own way home.
I am also contesting the bad weather claim as other flights took off and landed. So I have tried to look up my flight details and aircraft movements on the night. I even signed up to a website it had ALL flights every day for my flight number except on the day in question.
Could someone with much more experience than me please look it up and see what actually happened? Thanks
Flight no. FR8583 from Thessaloniki to London Stansted on 30/09/2018
Thanks hope someone can help

Hi Artyfarty6101,

Your flight was cancelled because the incoming flight from Stansted (STN) (FR8582) could not land at Thessaloniki (SKG). It did attempt to land but then diverted to Athens (ATH). After about 2 hrs on the ground at ATH (where they presumably left the SKG passengers) it departed back to SKG where it circled for a short time before making one attempt to land, which was then aborted and the aircraft returned to LTN, arriving (presumably empty) at 23.10 UTC.

SKG airport is notoriously difficult to land at when the prevailing wind dictates that approaches have to be made from over high terrain onto runway 34, as in your case. The reciprocal end of that runway is 16, which is approached from over the sea.

You are right, some aircraft did manage to land but just as many did not and also had to divert to another airport (mostly ATH).

You say "no Ryanair flights available to get us home for 6 days"

Did RA tell you that? do you have it in writing? or did you check yourself?

It's obviously unreasonable to expect you to wait that long, which is why they were obliged to offer you re routing, via another airline if necessary, or make other alternative arrangements such as a recovery flight etc This will probably prove to be the 'chink in their defensive armour'

Your delay is very similar (but not the same) to what happened to PomBear when Jet2 caused a similar delay last year. You can read all about it starting from here (it will take a while)...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=73146184&postcount=2991

Good luck.

p.s
You couldn't trace your flight because during flight it displayed (as seen on Planefinder/FR24) the flight number RYR85 EDI-STN for some strange reason!

JPears

Would this be case of weather not being an EC as you mention that landing is notoriously difficult due to regular is inherent conditions of the airport?

PomBear

Yes, landing at SKG is notoriously difficult at night (especially in the summer when the prevailing wind is often against the favourable runway). Aircraft land into a headwind if possible. A headwind provides lift at lower speed, facilitating a safe landing. In the summer the prevailing wind is from the north. This favours runway 34. Aircraft can’t land on a tailwind which is outside of limits. Runway 16 means landing on a tailwind if the wind at the time is northerly. If wind speed is out of limits for the aircraft, it can’t land on that runway.

So the question is, why didn’t they attempt to land on runway 34? As Tyzap makes clear, that runway becomes its own entity in the dark. The approach is over high terrain, which needs a steeper approach. A pilot will only be able to attempt a landing on it if she has the appropriate safety systems installed on the aircraft (will depend on age of aircraft and whether they have been retro-fitted) AND if the airline’s policies allow a night landing on runway 34. If not, then the only option (at night) is to attempt runway 16.

Airlines can, of course, reasonably mitigate this by not risking night landings at SKG at all (if policy / equipment precludes them) at the time of year when the prevailing wind is predominantly northerly.

However, as Tyzap has alluded to, your case is likely to turn on how predictable the weather was (in my case, which Tyzap linked, the aircraft I was scheduled to fly on was the only one to divert that night, and no other flights were delayed due to the conditions at SKG. If a large number of aircraft diverted then that would possibly suggest that the weather was extraordinary. Ryan Air’s unreasonable behaviour, if they failed to reduce your delay (re-route you etc) in line with their duty of care, is the other avenue to pursue.

Tyzap

Another set of passengers unhappy with Ryanair...

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ryanair-flight-greece-delayed-fog-romania-layover-stanstead-airport-compensation-a8713811.html

bignred05

jpsartre wrote: »

Well, it depends what you are looking to achieve. If you are not looking for Ryanair to cover the cost of any rerouting then there's nothing wrong with getting your flight refounded. Getting a refund has no bearing on your right to compensation.



As for your case, Ryanair has recently withdrawn from AviationADR so that's likely a dead end at this stage.

whilst I understand your final line, as things stand ADR are considering the outcome of my claim, I have been informed neither myself or Ryanair can now submit any further evidence and that ADR will make their decision on what details they have.

I suspect then I shall be taking Ryanair to court to get what I am entitled to.

ronnocs

Just spotted this in the UK press, ref strikes in Spain this week:https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ryanair-strikes-live-latest-update-spain-flight-delay-cancelled-dates-when-a8715126.html
Anyone due to fly heard anything "official"???

Oasis1

I am gobsmacked to report that today I recieved a refund for my taxi home after my flight was cancelled, re-routed flight and compensation. The last contact I had with ADR was on 5 Dec when I sent them a message asking for an update given Ryanair had terminated their agreement with them.


Any other payouts? I was planning to begin the process to take them to court this Saturday so very pleased not to have to bother now. Although a small part of me did want to learn about the process by doing it...


So thanks for everyone's advice along the way and putting up with my moaning! I hope this is a sign that others here might end up being reimbursed too. Keep fighting!

legal_magpie

The point about RyanAir and ADR is that I believe that cases already in the ADR system are being progressed but no new ones