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CAA right to launch action against Ryanair, says Nicola Sturgeon Ryanair shares dive as criticism of flight cancellations intensifies
(about 4 hours later)
Nicola Sturgeon has attacked Ryanair’s “deeply regrettable” decision to cancel scores of flights from Scotland and backed the Civil Aviation Authority’s legal warnings to the airline over misleading passengers about their rights. Criticism of Ryanair’s treatment of passengers affected by flight cancellations has intensified, denting the airline’s stock market value as it came under attack from Nicola Sturgeon and the head of the UK aviation regulator.
Sturgeon’s intervention on Thursday came after the CAA’s chief executive, Andrew Haines, said he was “furious” that the budget carrier was not complying with the law. The Civil Aviation Authority launched enforcement action on Thursday against the Dublin-based carrier, but it could avoid action from Ireland’s Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) due to differing interpretations of EU law governing passengers’ rights.
The authority has launched “enforcement action” against Ryanair for wrongly claiming that it did not have to arrange new flights for passengers on rival airlines after announcing a second wave of cancellations affecting 400,000 customers. Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, lamented Ryanair’s “deeply regrettable” decision to cancel scores of flights from Scotland, and backed the CAA’s legal warnings to the airline over misleading people about their rights.
Speaking during first minister’s questions, Sturgeon said the Scottish government’s transport minister, Humzah Yousaf was writing to the airline to protest at its suspension. “I have serious concerns about the decisions taken by Ryanair in the past couple of days. These will cause disruption to many passengers travelling to and from Scotland to London, and indeed to other destinations in Europe,” she told MSPs.
Ryanair announced earlier this week that it would scrap 18,000 flights on 34 routes between November and March, including services from Edinburgh and Glasgow to London Stansted, and from the Scottish airports to Poland, Spain and Germany. “We fully support the CAA’s launch of enforcement action because it is vital at the time of disruption that airlines provide full and accurate information about the rights that they [passengers] have.”
Sturgeon told MSPs: “I have serious concerns about the decisions taken by Ryanair in the past couple of days. These will cause disruption to many passengers travelling to and from Scotland to London and indeed to other destinations in Europe.” The Scottish transport minister, Humza Yousaf, is writing to the airline to protest the cancellations, she said.
She added: “We fully support the CAA’s launch of enforcement action because it is vital at the time of disruption that airlines provide full and accurate information about the rights that they [passengers] have.” The CAA chief executive, Andrew Haines, had earlier told the BBC he doubted that the dispute would end up in court, but said it was “unacceptable” that Ryanair was disregarding the law and customers’ rights.
Haines told the BBC that he doubted the dispute would end up in court, but added it was unacceptable that Ryanair was disregarding the law and customers’ rights.
“These are simple things to fix and they’re choosing not to fix them,” he said. “People shouldn’t have to choose between low fares and legal rights.”“These are simple things to fix and they’re choosing not to fix them,” he said. “People shouldn’t have to choose between low fares and legal rights.”
In a brief statement, Ryanair said it would cooperate. “We are meeting with the CAA and will comply fully with whatever requirements they ask us to.” Ryanair’s share price had lost little ground until Thursday, but fell by more than 4% to €16.41 (£14.39), leaving its stock market value nearly £1.7bn lower than before the cancellations.
The airline previously said it had emailed affected customers to offer a refund or an alternative flight. In a brief statement, Ryanair said it would cooperate with the CAA. “We are meeting with the CAA and will comply fully with whatever requirements they ask us to,” the airline said.
Passengers will also receive a travel voucher for a £40 one-way or £80 return journey that can be used to book a Ryanair flight for travel between October 2017 and March 2018. The CAA said Ryanair had wrongly claimed that it was not obliged to arrange new flights for passengers on rival airlines, following two waves of flight cancellations affecting more than 700,000 people.
News of the cancellations came a week after Ryanair announced plans to scrap up to 50 flights a day until 31 October, citing a “mess-up” in how it schedules time off for pilots, affecting 315,000 customers. The regulator’s intervention means the company is now fending off the displeasure of investors, regulators, politicians, passengers, pilots and cabin crew, despite its chief executive, Michael O’Leary, attempting to bring the rostering problem under control.
Sturgeon was responding to attacks from Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Green party on her proposals to firstly cut by 50% and then scrap air passenger duty in Scotland, using Holyrood’s new tax powers. Harvie said scrapping APD would benefit the wealthiest most, and were “unwanted, unnecessary and unsupported by any evidence”. According to EU regulations, airlines that cancel flights are obliged to offer a refund or reroute passengers under “comparable transport conditions”. Guidelines state that this should be as soon as possible, even if it has to be with another airline.
While the CAA said Ryanair had failed to inform passengers of these rights, CAR said it was unsure as to whether it could proceed with enforcement action.
Ryanair came under scrutiny after announcing earlier this week that it would scrap 18,000 flights on 34 routes between November 2017 and March 2018, affecting nearly 400,000 passengers, a week after announcing a first wave of cancellations.
Affected services include routes from Edinburgh and Glasgow to London Stansted, and from the Scottish airports to Poland, Spain and Germany.
The disruption began the previous week, when Ryanair said it would scrap up to 50 flights a day until 31 October, citing a “mess-up” in how it schedules time off for pilots, affecting 315,000 customers.
The airline said it has emailed affected customers to offer a refund or an alternative flight. Passengers will also receive a travel voucher for a £40 one-way or £80 return journey that can be used to book a Ryanair flight for travel between October 2017 and March 2018.