CAA threatens Ryanair with legal action after flights cancelled for entire winter

The Civil Aviation Authority has launched enforcement action against Ryanair for ‘persistently misleading passengers with inaccurate information’ regarding their rights in respect of its recent flight cancellations.

As the airline piled on the misery for passengers yesterday, announcing further flight cancellations for the entire winter season, the CAA said it had already written to Ryanair earlier this month warning that it might take legal action against it for failing to inform customers of their right to be re-booked with alternative airlines after it cancelled thousands of flights at short notice.

However, it said had expedited enforcement action yesterday after the airline again failed to tell customers of their rights under EU261 when it announced a further 18,000 flight cancellations, which affect up to 400,000 passengers.

In a statement, the CAA said: "Earlier this month, the CAA wrote to [Ryanair] to clarify their legal obligations and we sought assurances around how and when they would re-route passengers onto alternative flights and we told Ryanair to make a corrective public statement, to ensure customers were not misled and had accurate comprehensive information relating to their rights and entitlements.

"Today, in announcing thousands more cancellations to its scheduled programme, the airline has again failed to provide customers with the necessary and accurate information relating to their passenger rights, particularly around rerouting and care and assistance entitlements, which includes expenses.

"We have now told Ryanair that we are expediting enforcement action against them."

In a letter addressed to Ryanair’s chief legal officer Juilusz Komorek, CAA chief executive Andrew Haines pointed out that the airline had failed to correctly inform passengers of their right to be re-routed on alternative airlines after it announced its first tranche of flight cancellations earlier this month.

The CAA had asked the airline to correct a public statement from its chief executive Michael O’Leary, who had claimed the airline was not obliged to re-book passengers onto other airlines. It said Ryanair failed to do so.

In a public statement, Haines said: "There are clear laws in place, which are intended to assist passengers in the event of a cancellation, helping minimise both the frustration and inconvenience caused by circumstances completely out of their control.

"We have made this crystal clear to Ryanair, who are well aware of their legal obligations, which includes how and when they should reroute passengers, along with the level of information it provides its passengers. The information Ryanair published today again fails to makes this clear.

"In expediting our enforcement action we are seeking to ensure that Ryanair’s customers will receive the correct and necessary information, to make an informed choice about an alternative flight."

Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely said: "We are in correspondence with the CAA and have requested an early meeting to address their concerns."

Under the Enterprise Act 2002, if an airline refuses to comply with their legal obligations, the CAA can start legal proceedings.