ASH UPDATE - EU passenger compensation rules called into question

Ryanair has changed its stance of only reimbursing stranded passengers to the limit of their fare paid and no additional expenses.

Earlier the no-frills airline appeared to defy EU airline compensation rules with CEO Michael O’Leary saying: "While will will consider all passenger requests for reimbursement of reasonable receipted exepnses over the past week, any such reimbursement will be limited – as it is in the case of rail, coach and ferry passengers – to the original air fare paid by each passenger."

Ryanair has since agreed to comply with the rules but is to lobby for a rule change (see new TravelMole story).

The Board of Airline Representatives in the UK said the EU regulation over passenger compensation was intended to apply when airlines had individual delays or cancelled flights, not a mass shutdown of airspace.

BARUK called on the Government to tackle the European Commission over "unfair" regulations against member state airlines.

Chief executive Mike Carrivick said “The eagerness of the EU and the UK government to publicly state that airlines have a responsibility under EU Regulation EU261/2004, to accommodate and feed passengers booked on flights cancelled by the volcanic disruptions, is a misuse of the regulation.

"It was never intended to apply to wholesale shutdown of the airways system imposed by governmental rulings and without any limitation of time. It is also relevant that airlines cannot immediately resume normal services from the moment that the airspace restrictions are lifted.

"This Regulation, when used in this way, is draconian, disproportionate and often impractical.

"In this particular situation, passengers have in all probability been delayed a lot longer than they might have been and airlines have lost millions every day as a result.”

BARUK called for an "urgent reassessment" of the implementation of the regulation now and in the future.

"Not to change anything would be a huge disservice to everybody," the organisation said.

Ryanair added more flights from Friday to help bring passengers home following the air space shutdown.

Extra flights will run to Stansted from Alicante and Malaga, to Liverpool from Malaga, to Birmingham from Malaga and Tenerife, to Edinburgh from Malaga and Tenerife and to Dublin from Lanzarote.

by Phil Davies