O'Leary says obligations upon airlines are 'absurd'

COMPENSATION:A ROW has broken out between Ryanair and the aviation regulator after the airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary described as "absurd" legal obligations which European airlines have to passengers affected by cancelled flights.

Mr O’Leary said Ryanair would welcome any court action taken by the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) aimed at making it cover the expenses of passengers stranded in airports across Europe for up to a week.

Under EU regulations, airlines have to offer passengers affected by flight cancellations a refund or a rerouting on the next available flight. The rules state that airlines are obliged to provide accommodation and refreshment for passengers who choose to be rerouted.

However, Mr O’Leary said yesterday that Ryanair would not cover the accommodation or food costs of passengers. “While we will consider all passenger requests for reimbursement of reasonable receipted expenses over the past week, any such reimbursement will be limited – as it is in the case of rail, coach and ferry passengers – to the original air fare paid by each passenger.”

He said there was “no legislation designed that says any airline getting a fare of €30 should be reimbursing passengers many thousands of euro for hotel accommodation. It’s absurd.”

Mr O’Leary added that he was “fairly sure” the regulator would be taking a court action. “We will look forward to seeing this in court because, frankly, I think this is a great opportunity for the airlines to expose this nonsense.”

Mr O’Leary called for legislation to put planes on the same footing as coach, train and ferry operators, with the carrier only liable for the original fare cost.

He asked why airlines were “expected to be reimbursing people’s hotels, meals and everything else when the governments are the ones who made a balls of this?”

"I don't have a problem with everything being grounded for a day or two, but there should have been a much faster response by the governments and transport ministers and by the regulators," he told RTÉ's News At One.

CAR insisted the airline had “no wriggle room”, and had to abide by European rules that cover passengers’ costs. It urged people left out of pocket to pursue “proportionate and reasonable” claims.

CAR’s spokeswoman Patricia Barton said although the regulator had enormous sympathy for affected airlines, their obligations to passengers were very clear.

"There is no ambiguity or no wriggle room here. The law is the law," she told The Irish Times.

“We may have to fight this battle, and we are prepared for the fight. But we are going to have to see what happens. At the moment, Ryanair have said they are not going to abide by the regulation, but they still have not infringed it. Saying they are going to do something is not the same as doing it.”

She outlined the next steps for passengers affected by flight cancellations. They should send the airlines they had been booked to travel with copies of their receipts for expenses incurred, and allow them 10 working days to respond.

She said if passengers failed to obtain satisfaction from the airline, they should contact CAR for assistance.

If there is an infringement of EU Regulation 261 which governs air travellers’ rights, the commission issues a directive. “If an airline fails to comply with a directive then it is committing a criminal offence,” Ms Barton said. The courts can impose a fine of between €5,000 and €150,000 for each breach of a directive.

The commission can only act on behalf of passengers with flights booked out of Ireland, so if someone was stranded in Malaga, for example, they have to contact the Spanish aviation regulator.

Ms Barton said people could either contact the other EU regulators directly, or route complaints through CAR. “All of the member states have an obligation to enforce these regulations.”

The Government’s emergency taskforce met officials from CAR and the National Consumer Agency yesterday over concerns about passengers’ claims. It warned that if people were unhappy with compensation, State bodies would fight their cases.