Ryanair ordered to tell passengers of options after flights cancelled

Ryanair has been ordered to tell hundreds of thousands of passengers how it proposes to provide alternatives to cancelled flights by 5pm on Friday. As criticism of the Ryanair’s treatment of affected passengers intensified, the aviation regulator told the Irish airline to explain how it will reroute passengers and email all those affected by Wednesday to explain their options. In a strongly worded letter, the CAA’s CE, Andrew Haines, told Ryanair: “This issue is urgent, as passengers may already have been disadvantaged by taking a decision based on misleading information provided by Ryanair.” Ryanair responded, saying it had reminded its customer service agents on Wednesday “of the refund and re-accommodation entitlements of customers in cases of flight cancellations”. But a Ryanair memo, seen by the Guardian, appears to instruct call centre staff that if offering flights with other carriers to do so provided the price “does not exceed three times the value of the original Ryanair fare”. The document was criticised by consumer group, Which? – its managing director Alex Neill said: “Ryanair appears to be plucking figures out of thin air as there is no legal basis for the arbitrary figure they’ve set. The law says passengers must be rerouted and there’s no specified limit on cost. This yet again highlights the importance of the action which the Civil Aviation Authority has started.”<br/>