A passenger rights expert talks to euronews about why just refunding the price of a canceled flight ticket is not good enough
ADVERTISEMENTRyanair has been in a lot of difficulties recently due to strained relations with employees, namely pilots. But in addition to the strikes, the company is facing anger from thousands of users unhappy that refunds for their tickets do not make up for the damage caused by delays or cancellations of their flights. Euronews contacted Diego Maraña, spokesman for En-Colectivo, a platform created to claim the rights of users affected by flight disruptions.
"The European regulations, specifically 261/2004, do not establish any type of compensation for this type of disruption beyond the price of the ticket. It only provides for compensation for flight cancellations and delays based on distance and time. What we claim, through a collective, is precisely this other material damage, this moral damage, and this loss of profit. What we want to claim from Ryanair is the damage to a passenger caused by the cancellation of a flight and the fact that the company is not looking for an alternative to that flight, and we consider that the moral and material damage and the loss of profit suffered by each person are perfectly justifiable. Ryanair has an obligation to look for alternative flights so that the damage it causes to each passenger is minimised. The fact that the company only wants to return the ticket does not exempt it from the rest of the claim."