Ryanair only reimbursing passengers based on air fare paid

Ryanair has come under fire after warning it will only offer passengers reimbursement for expenses incurred during the six day grounding based on the air fare they originally paid.

Authorities have insisted the airline must abide by European rules to meet passengers‘ costs and urged people left out of pocket to pursue claims.

“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,” Mr O‘Leary said.

Following Ryanair’s threat, the Government's emergency task force warned that if people are unhappy with compensation, state bodies will fight their cases.

The Commission for Aviation Regulation will deal with all complaints following flight cancellations, it said.