Ryanair: a history of poor consumer practice

Ryanair: a history of poor consumer practice

In the summer of 2018, around 400 Ryanair flights were disrupted by three days of strike action by their own staff. This was something that was scheduled in advance, widely reported on publicly and therefore clearly something that the company knew about. Our member in Spain, OCU, launched a legal action to get full compensation for Spanish consumers after Ryanair tried to avoid its legal responsibility to do so. Back in Belgium, Test Achats / Test Aankoop engaged in parallel negotiations with Ryanair to settle the case. They finally reached an agreement where all affected passengers will receive a voucher worth between €250 to €400 depending on the length of the delayed journey.

Then, in Spring of 2022, a similar situation arose. A strike by Ryanair cabin crew at the end of April meant tens of thousands of consumers were informed that their flights had been cancelled by email and offered the option to choose an alternative flight or refund. However, Ryanair was much less transparent about the right to compensation, as stipulated under EU law. Wanting to put a stop to these rights-avoiding tactics immediately, Test Achats/Test Aankoop again sat down with Ryanair for what turned out to be a constructive dialogue. This led to a clear engagement from Ryanair to respect all passenger rights and secured a clear commitment of the Irish airline to respect all passenger rights and improve consumer communication about the compensation.