Indemnisation vol retardé Ryanair

Ryanair delays: what is specific

Ryanair flies point-to-point and does not sell connections, so the only delay that matters is the arrival delay of the flight on your booking — there is no “final destination” further down the line. Ryanair’s high aircraft utilisation means a morning delay often cascades through the day’s rotations; a knock-on delay is compensable unless Ryanair proves the first cause was extraordinary and that it could not have used a spare aircraft or crew.

Your flight may carry a Ryanair (FR) number but be operated by Ryanair UK, Malta Air, Buzz or Lauda Europe. That changes the licensing state, not your rights on departures from the EU or UK; for flights into the EU from outside it, the operating carrier must be EU-licensed for EU261 to apply. Ryanair asks passengers to claim through its own EU261 form and may ask you to verify your identity; keep the booking reference and the e-mail address used for the booking to hand.

Expect Ryanair to cite air-traffic-control restrictions or weather. Both can be extraordinary, but only for the specific flight: ask which restriction applied, at what time, and whether other departures operated.

How the 3 hours are measured on Ryanair flights

The delay that counts is the arrival delay at your final destination, measured when at least one aircraft door opens — not the departure delay, the touchdown time or the block-on time. Compare it with the scheduled arrival on your booking. A Ryanair flight that leaves 3 hours 30 late but makes up time to arrive 2 hours 50 late is not compensable; one that leaves on time and arrives 3 hours late is.

Ryanair DAC (Irish AOC). Flights may also be operated by Ryanair UK (RK), Malta Air (AL), Buzz (RR) or Lauda Europe (LW) under the FR flight number. Check the operating carrier on your boarding pass: the rules follow the airline that flew the aircraft, not the one that sold the ticket.

How much Ryanair owes for a delay

Under EU261 the amount depends only on the great-circle distance of the flight (or of the whole journey on a single booking), never on the ticket price: €250, €400 or €600 per passenger. On flights over 3,500 km Ryanair may halve the amount (€300 instead of €600) when the arrival delay is between 3 and 4 hours; from 4 hours the full amount applies. The table above shows the amounts on Ryanair’s typical routes.

Care while you wait

From 2 hours of delay (short flights), 3 hours (medium) or 4 hours (long) Ryanair must offer meals and refreshments in proportion to the wait, two phone calls or e-mails, and a hotel with transport if you are kept overnight. If it does not, keep receipts for reasonable expenses and claim them separately — they come on top of the fixed compensation. After 5 hours you may also abandon the trip and claim a full refund of the unused ticket.

What Ryanair may argue

Only extraordinary circumstances exempt Ryanair from paying: severe weather, air-traffic-control restrictions or strikes, security incidents, bird strikes, external strikes. Technical faults, crew shortages, late inbound aircraft from an earlier rotation and Ryanair’s own staff strikes are not extraordinary. The burden of proof is on Ryanair: ask for the precise cause of your flight’s delay and the measures it took, and treat a bare “operational reasons” as no answer.

How to claim a delay from Ryanair

1. Note the actual arrival time (arrivals board, flight-tracker screenshot, Ryanair’s own notification).
2. Ask Ryanair in writing for the reason for the delay.
3. Submit the claim through Ryanair’s official channel (https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-gb), or by post to Ryanair DAC, Customer Service Department, PO Box 11451, Swords, Co. Dublin, Ireland, quoting the booking reference, the flight, the date, the arrival delay and the amount per passenger.
4. If Ryanair refuses or does not reply within 8 weeks, escalate to AviationADR (UK flights); a court claim remains available within the limitation period of the departure country.