Ryanair Passengers Could Claim Delay Compensation

Millions of passengers who fly with no-frills airline Ryanair will now have up to six years to claim money back from the company if their flight is delayed, a court has ruled.

Ryanair had tried to limit the amount of time customers had to claim compensation to two years, despite a Supreme Court ruling specifying that all airlines must give passengers six years.

The ruling, handed down by Manchester County Court, has implications for the wider aviation industry, as other airlines would have been able to follow suit and lower their own limitation periods to two years if Ryanair had won the case.

The legal challenge was brought by two passengers, known as Goel and Trivedi, who had both missed the two-year window imposed by Ryanair for recovering money over the delay of their flight.

A 2014 Supreme Court ruling, Dawson v Thomson Airways, had set the limitation period for compensation at six years, but Ryanair had argued that customers agreed to reduce this to two years through a clause in their flight terms and conditions.

Speaking on behalf of the winning claimants Bott & Co Solicitors said: "We're delighted that the court has dismissed yet another argument put forward by the airlines to restrict passenger rights.

"The Supreme Court decision last year said passengers have six years to bring a claim.

"That is a definitive, binding, clear judgment from the highest court in England and Wales.

"This should have concluded matters but unfortunately Ryanair have been able to tweak the argument; we found ourselves running a complicated court case arguing the fine points of contract law."

They said that the victory could open the door to compensation for up to 2.26 million passengers, who could claim a total of around £610m.

However the court decision will only affect customers who flew with Ryanair before 2013, as the terms and conditions under review in the legal case were updated at that time.

Previously the wording of the conditions banned passengers from claiming "damages" for delays, but the updated version is more specific and clarifies that "damages and/or compensation" are time limited.

In response to the ruling Ryanair released a statement saying they would be challenging the decision of the court.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) read: "We note this ruling which reverses Lower Court orders that a 2 year time limit for claims is reasonable.

"Since we believe a six-year time limit for submitting such claims is both unnecessary and unreasonable, we have instructed our lawyers to immediately appeal this ruling."