Ryanair denies breaching consumer law

Ryanair has dismissed accusations by the Civil Aviation Authority that it is breaching consumer law.

The UK aviation body is threatening legal action against the airline for failing to adhere to European legislation.

But Ryanair’s director of customer service Fiona Kearns insists it already complies with the rules.

She said Ryanair has requested an early meeting with the CAA to ‘clarify any misunderstandings that may have arisen in dealing with some historic cases’.

The CAA claims Ryanair is still failing to comply with rules over flight delay compensation, despite pressure from the airline body and binding court decisions.

While it has managed to force three other airlines – Jet2, Aer Lingus and Wizz Air – to change their policies, the CAA says Ryanair is still not falling into line.

It claims Ryanair is not properly dealing with compensation claims for disruptions caused by routine technical faults in line with applicable consumer law.

It says the airline is also still trying to impose a contractual two-year time limit, from the date of the flight, for passengers to issue compensation claims at court, despite previously publicly committing to a six-year time limit.

"The law is clear that compensation must be paid if a flight is delayed for more than three hours by a routine technical fault," said CAA chief executive Andrew Haines.

"It is also clear that air passengers have up to six years to issue a compensation claim at court. This position was reaffirmed by the Court of Appeal last year.

"The CAA is committed to protecting the rights of air passengers and we are determined to ensure all airlines comply with this regulation. That is why we are announcing this latest action against Ryanair today as our recent work has shown that they are not complying with this consumer law.

"Our review of airline policies has already led to Jet2, Aer Lingus and Wizz Air changing their position. We will do everything in our power to ensure that passengers are receiving the support they need, and are legally entitled to, during and after disruption."

The CAA is taking legal action under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002, mandating Ryanair to change its policies.

It is taking the action after a study of the policies of the 15 largest airlines operating in the UK, representing 80% of all passenger traffic.

It is now undertaking a second compliance report to review a further 16 airlines’ policies, due to be published by the end of the year.

It warned that if any of these airlines are found to be in breach of consumer law, it wouldn’t hesitate to use its powers to launch further enforcement action.