Irish Ferries must compensate thousands of passengers for cancelled trips

Many of the 20,000-plus passengers who had to change their travel plans because of the cancelled sailings of the WB Yeats Irish Ferries ship could be paid compensation. Photo: Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie

Irish Ferries is facing having to pay compensation to thousands of passengers whose trips were cancelled on sailings between Ireland and France in the summer of 2018 following a ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU.

The Luxembourg-based court ruled on Thursday that the EU regulations governing compensation payable to sea passengers affected by cancelled sailings applied to the Irish Ferries situation.

The CJEU rejected the claim by Irish Ferries that the regulations imposed considerable financial burdens on the company which were entirely disproportionate.

The court also clarified that the regulations meant Irish Ferries should pay any additional costs incurred by passengers who availed of re-routing options.

The case arose out of a legal row between Irish Ferries and the National Transport Authority over passenger rights in the event of the cancellation of sailings which was referred to the CJEU by the High Court in Dublin on foot of an application by the ferry company.

Irish Ferries was forced to cancel its 2018 summer sailings between Dublin and Cherbourg due to the delay in the delivery of a new €144m vessel, the W B Yeats, from a Germany shipyard.

All sailings on the route were cancelled in two tranches after delivery of the W B Yeats, which was scheduled for May/June 2018, ultimately did not take place until December 12, 2018 – 200 days behind its original due date.

The company was unable to charter a replacement vessel and had to offer and arrange alternative sailings on its other ship, the Oscar Wilde, between Ireland and France or re-routing via Britain.

Irish Ferries claimed a decision by the NTA in January 2019 requiring it to pay compensation to many of the 20,000-plus passengers who had to change their travel plans was invalid, irrational, disproportionate and in breach of its rights under the Constitution and EU law.

It claimed EU regulations on sea passenger rights did not require compensation to be paid when cancellations were announced at least seven weeks before the scheduled sailings and only applied to passengers affected by imminent sailing who are at or travelling to a port.

The CJEU rejected the claim by Irish Ferries that the delayed delivery of the W B Yeats constituted “extraordinary circumstances” which removed its obligation to pay compensation to affected customers.

The court stated that passengers were also not required to submit a compensation claim in the form of a complaint within two months from the cancelled sailing to avail of their sea passenger rights.

The company had argued that not all passengers who were re-routed via Rosslare or Roscoff incurred extra costs as some would have been closer to those ports than Dublin or Cherbourg.

In January 2019, the NTA declared that Irish Ferries had failed to comply with its obligations to reimburse any additional costs incurred by re-routed passengers.

It directed the company to pay compensation to passengers impacted by the cancellations who had to travel from either Rosslare or Roscoff instead of Dublin or Cherbourg and faced delays to their original travel plans as a result of the re-routing.

The NTA also required Irish Ferries to pay compensation to impacted passengers who had requested compensation.

Figures show 82% of passengers took up the option of alternative sailings between Ireland and France with 3% using the landbridge option via Britain, while 15% opted for a full reimbursement.

All passengers were also offered a €150 voucher for sailings with Irish Ferries in 2019.