Was my flight really cancelled due to poor weather?

Roodeberg

Hi All,

Reading all the messages with interest!

Our flight was delayed by 4 hours 23 minutes yesterday - ultimately we decided not to fly (because the car hire office was closed... so we couldn't get to our accommodation two hours away - and there were no hotel rooms available near the airport)

Ryanair claim that our flight was delayed due to poor weather - I get that there was a lot of rain yesterday - but the plane that ultimately flew to Milan last night was flying (on time) to Dublin, at the point of scheduled departure time. This suggests to me, Ryanair were missing a plane somewhere!

I've checked departures for Stansted yesterday and average delay was one hour 20 minutes - the same for Milan (Bergamo) - clearly we would have gone if the flight was only delayed that much!

Can I still claim compensation, even though I didn't fly? And what about the return flights (that I cannot now take?)

Any and all advice gratefully received!

xxxx

onashoestring

The cause of the delay is not relevant in this case as  cannot get compensation for a delayed arrival if you didn’t take the flight .

You also are not entitled to get a refund because the departure delay was under 5 hours . 

“ If you have been delayed for more than five hours and no longer wish to travel then you are entitled to a refund.”
https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/delays/ 

You won’t be entitled to refunds from Ryanair on the return flights either as you chose to abandon the holiday before waiting 5 hours.

However you may be able to claim on you travel insurance for abandonment - so check if your policy covers this .

It’s different if the flight was cancelled. In that  case you can claim a refund for the flights .  Was your flight definitely delayed or was it cancelled ? Did the flight that flew last night have a  different flight number to your original one ?  

Westin

You have not mentioned a flight number. RyanAir have 4/5 flight a day on STN BGY.  

The only one I can see with a lengthy delay was the evening departure of FR4196.  This had a delay of over 4.5hrs and did not reach BGY until 01:30.  That might fit with your comment about the car rental desk being closed.

The aircraft operating the flight came in from Dublin but not that late (<1h). 

I suspect FR4196’s delay was indeed down to the appalling rain and storms in the south of England and across parts of Europe.  It is quite common for air traffic control restrictions to be put in place when there is widespread bad weather storms.