Ryanair refusing EC261 compensation - any advice?
 

I was travelling Ryanair from Chania to Dublin last week. Flight was late leaving Chania by approx 1 hour 40 mins. Then diverted to Belfast to refuel cos it had missed its landing slot and didn’t have enough fuel to circle Dublin. It was 3 hours 45 mins late landing in Dublin. We touched down in Dublin at 20:05hrs instead of 16:15hrs.
On submitting a claim to the airline, Ryanair got back to me saying I’m not entitled as they claim the delay was due to adverse weather in Dublin (low visibility). Yet other flights were landing at the time in Dublin with no issue. The person beside me on the flight checked must have been on the DAA flight information when we were in Belfast.
Do I just have to accept their initial refusal or do I have a case to pursue?
One other thing, I checked with one of the compensation agencies and their system was showing the flight arrived Dublin 17:10hrs which is completely wrong. However the agency were unable to help as they don’t deal with Irish customers.
Grateful for any advice.
Thx.

Other planes landing does not disprove Ryanair's weather claim. Adverse weather can require bigger gaps between landings so some flights lose out.

Nevertheless Ryanair, along with most other airlines, have a poor reputation for paying out on such claims and may make up lots of stories to make you go away. It's really up to you as to what evidence you can bring to support your case, and whether you feel like going to the small claims court or their equivalent.

Are there no other claims agencies you can use who will take on Irish customers?

Thanks for that input. I’ve pursued the matter with Ryanair as there was another inaccuracy in their email. They said that surface transportation was organised to bring passengers to their destination. Whereas, in fact, we continued by plane.

If i I don’t get satisfaction with Ryanair I’ll pursue it with an agency.

It sounds, however, like I may have a weak case.

How much time would surface transportation from Belfast airport to Dublin airport require if they want to claim that this is what happened? My guess is that this is tantamount to admitting a delay long enough for EC261 to require compensation if not due to an exceptional/extraordinary reason.

Surface between BFS and DUB would take about 1 hour 10 mins on a Sunday evening.

...plus the 3-6 hours it would take Ryanair to first arrange a fleet of buses in the first place.

On these facts, FR will likely prevail. What other aircraft coming from other origins were able to do is largely irrelevant. The decision to divert is made by the Captain and, although not relevant to whether this was an "extraordinary circumstance" is hardly in FR's interest even if EC 261/2004 did not exist.

Claims agencies will only accept cases they believe they can win as they only get paid if they do. Although bottom feeders, they are a good barometer in these circumstances. If an outfit which handles these issues every day will not take the matter on a contingency, that amounts to a practical experts opinion that it is a loser.

Thanks so much. I’m coming to that conclusion myself. I’ve put in a request with an Irish agency, so will see what they say. Obviously if they’re not interested, that’ll be the end of it.

If this weather condition happens more than 3 times a year, it is not an extraordinary circumstance anymore.

Try looking for a claim agencies, covering flights to Ireland.

Wrong.

Thanks so much. I’ll get onto an Irish based agency at the weekend once I’ve pulled the right documents together. One irish based agency I tried has already got back to me to say they’ve stopped taking on EC261 claims as it’s poorly policed, that airlines do as they please and are under no time constraints to settle claims.

Thanks again, folks. Appreciate it.

?? - utter nonsense

I somewhat agree with [MENTION=130665]warakorn[/MENTION]. European courts or mediators brought via alternate dispute resolution seem to put some emphasis on the "extraordinary" aspect of the weather. In the US bad weather = too bad for you. In Europe bad weather = so what? If the weather is not "extraordinary" bad, you have a chance. One should dig further at https://www.aviationreg.ie/ (The official Irish Enforcement body)

At the minimum submit a complaint at
https://secure.aviationreg.ie/eserie...851D127C.node1

The fact that some numpty local judge / mediator may have made some comment in some case is not precedent.

The claims agency which won't take the claim is the smarter money because it has a fee on the line.