Ryanair dismisses ‘unsubstantiated’ data from ‘ambulance chaser’

Ryanair has dismissed data from a flight compensation claims company which has put the airline high on a ‘Carriers of Shame’ list.

EUclaim yesterday released a list of the five airlines for which it has received the most number of claim applications in the first half of 2016.

Although the company admitted it had not taken into account the size of the airlines, it said its data showed worrying trends.

With easyJet and Ryanair at the top of the list, it accused low-cost airlines of not doing enough to look after passengers who are impacted by flight delays or cancellations.

EUclaim UK manager Adeline Noorderhaven admitted the first half of 2016 has been plagued by bad weather and ATC strikes, which are out of the airlines’ control, but she said tight crew and aircraft scheduling by low-cost carriers means they cannot react swiftly enough to these issues so that problems flow into their entire rotation and even into other days.

EasyJet topped the list with 5,641 claims, and EUclaim said this number has increased every year for the last three years.

Second in the list was Ryanair, with the number of people seeking compensation against Ryanair more than doubling year-on-year to 4,781 for the six months to June 30.

But Ryanair dismissed the figures as ‘unsubstantiated’.

"We do not believe any statements made by ambulance chasers like EUclaim, who charge excessive fees for the non-existent service they claim to provide, and whose ‘internal data’ is totally unsubstantiated," said the spokesman.

"Given that Ryanair carried over 55 million customers in the first half of 2016, even these bogus figures (Ryanair received just over 500 claims from this company – which is an average of 1 for every 110,000 passengers carried) show just how satisfied Ryanair’s customers have been with our low fares and great service in the first six months of 2016."

EasyJet also dismissed the data and said ‘unprecedented levels of disruption’ from French ATC strikes and air traffic control congestion in the London area and in Europe had led to a larger than expected volume of claims for easyJet to process.

"We will always pay compensation when it is due," said a spokesman.

"EasyJet carries more UK passengers than any other airline listed by EUclaim. We also recommend that customers should apply to easyJet to receive all of their compensation without paying any fees to third parties."

He said UK air travel regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, has published two reports on the handling of EU 261 claims by the 15 largest airlines flying to and from the UK.

"In these reports, the CAA confirmed easyJet was the only airline that was fully complying on paying compensation for technical faults and received a ‘very good’ rating for how we communicate with passengers during disruption," he added.