Ryanair anger at EU payout ruling
Airline will charge passengers extra to cover costs of increased claims for compensation
BUDGET airline Ryanair is adding 50 centimes to the price of all seats from next month in a bid to cover the costs of a forecast increase in compensation claims.
The increase comes after a European court ruled that passengers can claim for flight cancellations in cases outside the airline's control - such as air traffic controller strikes or exceptionally bad weather.
Ryanair already adds a €2 levy to tickets to contribute to the EU compensation scheme. This will increase to €2.50 from March 1.
The budget carrier said the recent court ruling was regrettable and "have made airlines the insurer of last resort".
It said in a statement: "Ryanair regrets that last month’s decision of the European Court, which now allows passengers to claim for flight delays which are clearly and unambiguously outside any airline’s control will materially increase the cost of flying in Europe and airfares will increase as airlines are obliged to recover the cost of these manifestly unfair claims from their customers.
"Making airlines financially liable for volcanoes in Iceland, snow in Heathrow or regular ATC strikes in France and Spain is the equivalent of making Toyota and Audi liable for traffic jams in London.
"We should not be liable for compensation for events which are clearly outside of our control.”
