RyanAir not paying expenses after diversion

glaw5

Hi there,

I'm wondering if someone might be able to help.

Last September I took a flight from Glasgow to Bologna via Charleroi for a trip to Parma.

On landing we were suddenly informed that we were in Forli Airport rather than Bologna.
There had been no mention and I only realised I was there when my girlfriend called to say it had been noticed the flight was diverted. Even the boards in Charleroi were still saying the destination was Bologna as we boarded.

I only received an email from RyanAir stating the flight had been diverted AFTER collecting my luggage from the carousel.

Within the email it stated the following:

In the event your flight has diverted and will not continue to your scheduled destination, we will make every effort to secure alternative arrangements to get you to your destination. If we cannot organise alternative transport on the day, we will organize accommodation for any necessary overnight stay and applicable ground transportation to/from hotel and airport for you.

If transport cannot be arranged or you do not want to wait for our solution, we encourage you to make your own way to your destination and keep receipted expenses to submit for reimbursement. You can access our expenses form here.

It quickly became apparent I would not be able to claim for the inconvenience of the diverted flight and/or the fact that it made me late for the meeting I was supposed to attend that evening. However I submitted the details of travel and subsistence expenses I incurred as outlined along with photos to support the claim. First of all RyanAir came back to say the receipts were not clearly visible (which was untrue) then they came back to say they had to contain VAT. Then they started to contradict themselves before going quiet and ignoring my emails.

That prompted me to begin the laborious process of taking my complaint to Aviation ADT, at the end of which they ruled in my favour and ordered RyanAir to pay me the expenses. However after several more days Aviation ADR then got back in touch to say that RyanAir were refusing to pay because the flight did not take off or land in the UK. I asked Aviation ADR who I should therefore take up my case with to which I have received no reply. I then went through the complaints procedure at Aviation ADR to which I have had no reply either. I'd actually seen poor reviews about Aviation ADR before making my initial contact and they have lived up to their reputation.

It now leaves me at a bit of an impasse but I'm determined to keep it going. I'm guessing my last line of attack is to take them to court and possibly use a no win no fee company. Before doing so I just thought I'd check on here to see if anyone else had encountered anything like this, if there are any other options I could explore or whether there are any no win no fee solicitors who might be worth contacting.

Thanks a lot for any help!

mdann52

Ryanair don't sell connecting tickets, so it's very likely you held two separate tickets. 

You need to complain to the Belgium authorities - you can do this at https://mobilit.belgium.be/en/aviation/passagiers/passengers-right

Assuming the diverted flight was operated by Ryanair EU, it's debatable if you can start court action in the UK, as they have no physical presence over here post-brexit

glaw5

Thanks for taking the time to reply and send the link. Yes I indeed had separate RyanAir tickets.

From what I can see the Belgian authority only deal with the EU regulation regarding the actual compensation in cases of cancellations or delays, not the expenses side unfortunately.

I've contacted no win no fee solicitors recommended on this site to find out about the court side.