Hi,
I am new to this forum and I am hoping someone can offer some advice on a cancelled flight situation.
Like many others I have flights booked for the Euro champoinships in the summer. My groups return flight was on FR3239 Brussels to Manchester Dep 18.45 (June 20).
My booking now shows the return flight changed to FR3223 Brussels to Manchester Dep 11.35 (June20).
This flight is not a possibility are we are in Cologne overnight 0n the 19th of June for the Scotland Switzerland game and ther is no way we can make it to Brussels Charleroi from Cologne to check in for a flight as early as 11.35.
Now Ryanair haven't actually informed me of this change as of yet and I only relised when going onto the app to check something else. So this morning I phoned Ryanair to try to sort what should be an easily resolved situation. Wrong. What I have been told and I still can't quite believe it's correct is that the original flight although it doesn,t actually exist any longer is not cancelled and that my flight has been rescheduled even though my flight number has been changed? I will be entitled to change to another flight or refunds as the the change is over 5 hours but not until I am officially informed of the change? Also if the flight moves again to less than a 5 hour change before they let me know I will not be entitled to this?
I feel totally trapped as If I book other flights in the mean time as flights are at a premium with the euros being on I risk not getting refunded on the original flights if they move my rescheduled flight to within 5 hours of my original flight time. Can any experts out there please let me know if what they have told me is correct or even legal because in my eyes if they have changed my flight number they have cancelled my original flight and not rescheduled it.
Thanks in advance for any help.

What I have been told and I still can't quite believe it's correct is that the original flight although it doesn,t actually exist any longer is not cancelled and that my flight has been rescheduled even though my flight number has been changed?

If it's a different flight number it's a cancellation

​​​​​​
I will be entitled to change to another flight or refunds as the the change is over 5 hours but not until I am officially informed of the change?


That only applies for schedule changes. Your situation is a cancellation

Also if the flight moves again to less than a 5 hour change before they let me know I will not be entitled to this?

If the flight number is different it's still a cancellation

Unfortunately, Ryanair are unlikely to send you an email about the above until about 90 days before departure. Until you get the email the agents won't do anything.

Once you get the email, you can rebook on same route, reroute or refund or accept their proposed itinerary

Thank you for this information. I now feel more comfortable in booking alternatives before Ryanair give me the chance to refund the flights.

shunkyboy welcome to FlyerTalk and the Ryanair branch in particular. Ryanair like to push the legal boundaries and often mislead passengers as to their rights. Should you have any issues resolving this please do come back and I’m sure we can offer your some guidance and support.

Thanks Tobias,

I have went ahead and booked eurowings flights from Dusseldorf to Manchester instead and will be expecting my Ryanair flights to be refunded once they contact me about the "schedule change" as they are calling it.
I don't envisage any issues after what has been advised on here and to be honest we need the money refunded to help fund the trip.
Any issues and I know where to come for decent advice.
Thanks for your help guys