Ryanair

Ryanair is one of the largest low-cost airlines in Europe. If you flew with them recently and your flight was delayed or cancelled, there’s a good chance you’re entitled to compensation. Under EU Regulation 261/2004 you can receive up to €600.

EU Regulation 261/2004 and your Ryanair delay or cancellation

EU Regulation 261/2004 protects passenger rights in cases of delayed flights, cancelled flights and denied boarding (overbooking). The Regulation says passengers are entitled to financial compensation when their scheduled flight runs into unexpected trouble that the airline is responsible for. Thanks to EU 261/2004, passengers have a guarantee that their rights are protected.

When is a passenger entitled to compensation from Ryanair?

To get financial compensation for a disrupted Ryanair flight, your case has to fall into one of the situations below.

Overbooking

Overbooking means you were denied boarding without your consent — Ryanair staff tell you there’s no seat for you because the plane is overbooked. In that case you’re entitled to compensation of €250 to €600, depending on the distance of your scheduled flight.

Delayed flight

Your Ryanair flight was delayed by at least 3 hours and the reason wasn’t an extraordinary circumstance such as an airport-staff strike or bad weather. What matters isn’t the departure delay but the time difference between the scheduled and the actual arrival at your destination. Compensation ranges from €250 to €600.

Cancelled flight

When Ryanair cancels your scheduled flight and tells you less than 14 days in advance, you’re entitled to the same compensation as for a delayed flight. As with delays, the fault has to be on Ryanair’s side — a cancellation due to extraordinary circumstances doesn’t qualify.

Missed connection

If a Ryanair delay or cancellation made you miss your connecting flight, you have the same entitlement as for a cancelled flight, provided the conditions are met. The flight must either depart from an EU airport or land in the EU.

How much compensation can I get for a disrupted Ryanair flight?

On flights over 3,500 km, Ryanair may reduce compensation by 50 % (to €300) if the delay is between 3 and 4 hours. You get the full amount when the delay is longer than 4 hours.

How to claim compensation for a delayed or cancelled Ryanair flight

There are two ways to get compensation for a disrupted flight.

You can contact Ryanair yourself through their web form — Ryanair will assess the case and tell you whether they’ll pay. If they refuse, your options are limited.

The easier route is to check your claim with Refundio. Fill in a short form and we’ll handle the rest — communication with Ryanair, negotiation and, if needed, court action. You pay nothing up front; we only take a fee if we win.

Situations where no compensation is due

There are so-called extraordinary circumstances in which Ryanair isn’t required to pay — for example bad weather or air traffic control strikes. If you’re not sure whether the exception applies to you, check your case for free — the line between extraordinary and ordinary is exactly where Ryanair lies most often.

A few facts about Ryanair

Did you know Ryanair runs more than 3,000 flights a day on average? The Irish low-cost carrier leads the European league table by a clear margin — runner-up EasyJet flies only half as many flights daily.

Ryanair’s total fleet stands at a staggering 565 aircraft. Together with its subsidiaries Buzz, Lauda and Malta Air, the group flies to more than 240 destinations across 40 countries.