Holidaymakers were left angry and disappointed over the weekend as Ryanair began cancelling thousands of flights in order to allow staff to take annual leave.
The Dublin-based budget airline admitted yesterday that it had “messed up” the planning of pilots’ holiday, resulting in up to 50 flights a day being cancelled over the next six weeks.
“We apologise sincerely to the small number of customers affected by these cancellations, and will be doing our utmost to arrange alternative flights and/or full refunds for them,” the company said after the announcement was made on Friday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
More than 160 flights were grounded on Saturday and Sunday, with the majority of UK cancellations affecting flights to and from Stansted Airport.
At least a quarter of million passengers, and possibly as many as 378,000, may be unexpectedly grounded as a result, the Irish Times reports.
“Some cancellations are expected to be announced just hours beforehand giving passengers little warning,” the newspaper adds.
Angry customer complained about the lack of clarity surrounding the last-minute cancellations and demanded that Ryanair publish a full list of the flights affected.
The acknowledgement of the airline’s responsibility indicates that Ryanair will pay passengers whose flights are cancelled the statutory compensation required under EU law, says The Independent. “If every passenger claims, the total bill would top £100m.”
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
What to know when filing a hurricane insurance claimThe Explainer A step-by-step to figure out what insurance will cover and what else you can do beyond filing a claim
-
How fees impact your investment portfolio — and how to save on them
The Explainer Even seemingly small fees can take a big bite out of returns
-
Enemy without
Cartoons
-
Rail strikes: is Britain on track for a ‘summer of discontent’?
Speed Read The ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ is planned for next week
-
‘See it. Say it. Sorted’: is it the end of the line for train announcements?
Speed Read The transport secretary has pledged a ‘bonfire of the banalities’ on England’s railways
-
New evidence points to final resting place of missing MH370
Speed Read Findings of ocean study fuels call for reopening of search for lost Malaysia Airlines jet
-
UK to bring in airport Covid tests for arrivals
Speed Read MPs call for stricter border measures as South African variant of coronavirus spreads
-
Thousands of Britain’s busiest bridges ‘at risk of failure’, official data show
Speed Read Structures in ‘very poor’ condition remain open amid concerns about disruption during repairs
-
UK records biggest jump in transport use since pandemic began
Speed Read Monday rush hour sees spike in commuters across country as trains return to 90% of pre-coronavirus services
-
Coronavirus: what are the odds of catching Covid-19 on a plane?
Speed Read Studies suggest air travel is safe despite concerns about air quality
-
Plane crashed ‘as distracted pilots discussed Covid fears’
Speed Read Preliminary report says ‘human error’ to blame for crash in Pakistan that claimed 98 lives
