Ryanair - The European Airline?

Once again here is Ryanair, the main beneficiary of European de-regulation, pretending that European law does not exist and, in effect, sub-contracting its non compliance to “Service Agents” at small airports who have no training, no briefing and frequently no method of communicating with Ryanair.

Whatever about the Stanstead connection, the delay at Aarhus clearly comes under European Regulation 261 and the passengers should be offered assistance (meals, phone, calls and internet access) and help without charge by the airline in getting to their FINAL destination. It is all on

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air_portal/passenger_rights/information_en.htm

And the EU operate a Freephone Helpline on 00 800 6789 10 11. Ryanair’s Operations number is 003531 8121238 as you will be told by airport service agents they have “No way” of contacting them to do anything. Their head of Customer Services is cgreen@ryanair.com .

The European Commission has given National Enforcement bodies 6 months from 01/04/2007 to enforce the regulations or face sanctions – passengers should always complain in writing.

Let us be clear. Ryanair is hugely profitable company with over 1 Billion euros in the bank and is largely owned by US Private Equity funds. There is no way they should be allowed ignore European Law and abuse passengers when the European Law has made this profitable business possible. So Michael O’Leary, Tony Ryan and David Bonderman, do business ethics and complying with your regulatory framework count?

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Irish Independent
Children stranded in London after Ryanair hold-up
By Paul Melia
Tuesday August 07 2007

The soccer players, aged between 12 and 16, were due to travel from Denmark to Dublin with the low-cost airline but a technical fault at Aarhus airport delayed them for over five hours.

When they arrived in Stansted for their connecting Ryanair flight home, they were told they were too late to board the plane, despite being just a few minutes late.

The only offer from Ryanair was to fly the group home on Thursday morning, said a spokesman for the group. But the flight was going from the East Midlands Airport - almost 200 km away - and the boys would have to pay all their accommodation and expenses in the meantime.

"There's five or six parents here in my house and we're all very upset," said Eamon Casserly, whose 14-year-old son James is stranded.

"We're now trying to get them onto a bus and get them to Holyhead so they can get a ferry. They've no food. They've nowhere to stay. They're all young fellas and they're away for a week. A week is a long time to be away from their parents."

Last night, Ryanair confirmed that the Aarhus flight had been delayed.The airline said there was no record of the group going to the ticket desk and asking for a flight out, and that there was availability last evening. The airline said it would try to get the group put on standby in the event that seats became available today.

The group, all soccer players with Mervue United, were attending the Allborg Youth Games in Denmark for the last week. They flew out Dublin-Stansted-Aarhus with Ryanair.

The Deputy Mayor of Galway who was with the group, Cllr Declan McDonnell, said the group arrived at Aarhus at 8.30am butthe flight was delayed.

"The group was split into two, and the first group of 20 arrived in Stansted two minutes late and were not let through.

They were told they could fly out from East Midlands on Thursday but they'd have to make their own way there and pay their own expenses in the UK until Thursday.

"In their time in Aarhus they were given a token which was enough to buy a bag of chips. They (Ryanair) didn't want to know." Aarhus Airport confirmed last night that the scheduled Ryanair flight to London Stansted had been delayed for just over five hours.

- Paul Melia