Ryanair flight cancellations: How do I find out if my flight is affected? And what do I do if it's cancelled?

Ryanair staff have initiated a series of strikes over working conditions during the busy summer holiday travel period
AP
Tom Powell|Hatty Collier28 September 2017

Ryanair has extended its period of flight disruption to March, with 400,000 passengers now affected.

Around 18,000 more flights have been cancelled, resulting in the temporary suspension of 34 routes.

It comes after the company was already forced to cancel up to 50 flights a day until the end of October due to a “mess up” over pilots' annual leave allocation.

Vast numbers of Ryanair customers will now be desperate to find out how this may affect them.

How do I know if my flight has been cancelled?

Customers whose flights have been cancelled will be notified through an email or a text.

This will inform them of the flights they can transfer to which will be on the same or next day.

A new online tool called Rangewell also tells passengers if their flight has been cancelled. Just enter a flight number, airport or departure date at rangewell.com to find out.

Where can I find the list of cancelled routes?

The disruption is now set to a further 18,000 flights cancelled up until March, affecting around 400,000 customers.

The airline said it was cancelling flights at airports where it ran the busiest schedules, so it would be easier to place passengers on alternative flights.

The suspended routes from November to March

Bucharest – Palermo

Chania – Athens

Chania – Pafos

Chania – Thessaloniki

Cologne – Berlin (SXF)

Edinburgh – Szczecin

Gdansk – Warsaw

Glasgow – Las Palmas

Hamburg – Edinburgh

Hamburg – Katowice

Hamburg – Oslo (TRF)

Hamburg – Thessaloniki

Hamburg – Venice (TSF)

London Gatwick – Belfast

London Stansted – Edinburgh

London Stansted – Glasgow

Newcastle – Faro

Newcastle – Gdansk

Sofia – Castellon

Sofia – Memmingen

Sofia – Pisa

Sofia – Stockholm (NYO)

Sofia – Venice (TSF)

Thessaloniki – Bratislava

Thessaloniki – Paris BVA

Thessaloniki – Warsaw (WMI)

Trapani – Baden Baden

Trapani – Frankfurt (HHN)

Trapani – Genoa

Trapani – Krakow

Trapani – Parma

Trapani – Rome FIU

Trapani – Trieste

Wroclaw – Warsaw

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has described the fiasco as a 'major boo boo'

Who is entitled to a refund or compensation?

EU law protects passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled under the Denied Boarding Regulation.

This applies to flights either departing from an EU airport or those that are both arriving at an EU airport and operated by an EU airline, such as Ryanair.

Under EU law, passengers given less than 14 days’ notice of a flight cancellation are entitled to claim compensation worth up to £221 depending on the timing of alternative flights and if the issue was not beyond the responsibility of the airline, such as extreme weather.

Mr O'Leary said if customers were not satisfied with the flights offered, they could have a full refund or claim compensation.

Passengers can claim a refund from the airline. If they have booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, they can also claim the full cost of the return ticket.

If the passenger still wants to travel, Ryanair must offer an alternative flight as soon as possible after the cancelled flight.

Is compensation automatic?

No, disrupted passengers must write a letter of complaint to the airline. They should keep as much evidence as they can, such as boarding cards and receipts to claim expenses.

A template letter can be found on the website of consumer watchdog Which?

Will Ryanair pay for non-cancellable hotels or AirBnBs?

The airline will not pay for any losses on hotels or AirBnBs. Customers wil instead have to seek compensation via their travel insurance.

Lawyer Coby Benson of flight compensation specialists Bott & Co told the Guardian: “If the flight is cancelled, there is nothing a passenger can do to recover consequential losses. So you have to try your travel insurer instead.”

Can I take Ryanair to court?

The only way to take Ryanair to court for losses would be through the Irish small claims court or the European small claims procedure. The latter could be extremely expensive if you lose, as you will have to cover Ryanair’s costs.

However, the airline is signed up to the aviation alternative dispute resolution process.

This settles claims for customers who believe they have been treated unfairly. Visit aviationadr.org.uk for more information.

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