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It’s fair to say that Ryanair hasn’t had a great couple of weeks; cancelling 2,000+ flights and compounding that with an entirely self-inflicted PR fiasco as a result of treating passengers like idiots. If you have suffered a cancelled Ryanair flight, I might have some good news – depending on when you were due to fly.

According to the EU Regulations, compensation is due when flights are cancelled within 2 weeks of the travel date, which in this case means that flights scheduled between 16th September and 2nd October 2017 should be eligible for compensation. Ryanair has helpfully (perhaps unintentionally…) created a list of the relevant flights, which you can check here.

The amount of compensation due depends on the length of the flights – full details in our guide here.

Under Assistance (Article 8) of the same regulations, if your cancelled flight isn’t until after 2nd October, you must still be offered the choice between:

• A full refund, within 7 days, of the fare paid for the segments not flown and also for the segments flown in case continuation serves no purpose. In case of cancellation of a connecting flight, the passenger is also entitled to a free flight to the point of origin.
  

  For example, you are travelling MAN-LHR-BCN v.v. . If you arrive in LHR and the BCN flight is cancelled, you can opt to not travel further and to fly back to MAN free of charge. You should then be refunded the entire fare for the roundtrip. If a flight on the inbound trip is cancelled, and you choose not to travel further, you only receive a refund for the return trip (i.e. 50%).

• Rebooking on another flight to your final destination ‘under comparable travel conditions and at the earliest opportunity’. You can also choose to be rebooked on a later date to the same destination, if available. The regulation does not stipulate – and thus does not force – airlines to rebook on other (competing) airlines. ‘Comparable travel conditions’ mean that downgrades and extra transfers are to be avoided. Also, the flight timings should match the original timings as much as possible.

Bottom line

Ryanair turned a mess into a PR disaster. If you’ve been impacted by the cancellations, hopefully you’ve managed to get rebooked and if you’re due compensation, I wouldn’t hesitate to claim it in this instance.

If Ryanair try to give you the runaround and you don’t have the time or inclination to chase it up yourself,  Claimingo offer a stress-free service to help you claim the compensation you’re entitled to in a straightforward, simple way. You can read more about the services they offer here.

Hat-tip: Running With Miles