Ryanair to shake up refunds policy after pandemic criticism

Ryanair has promised to start refunding customers for cancelled flights within five working days, after criticism of its reimbursements policy during the pandemic. The Dublin-based carrier, which has previously described itself as a “no-refunds airline”, has also announced significant improvements to the way it treats customers whose flights are delayed or cancelled. At the start of the pandemic, when tourist travel was more or less banned, Ryanair, along with a number of other airlines, refused to refund customers who were unable to travel, if the flight went ahead. It prompted a wave of criticism and led to an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority into whether consumers had been treated fairly. The CMA later dropped the action, but a few days later it emerged that the airline was barring passengers who had pursued chargeback refunds for the flights via their credit card company, unless they returned the money. Separately, customers who were promised refunds for cancelled flights later found they had instead been given vouchers instead, often with expiry dates too early for them to use. Ryanair said on Thursday that it had introduced the new commitment to refund passengers within five working days. The EU rules require passengers on flights cancelled by the airline to be reimbursed within seven days, unless there are extenuating circumstances. <br/>