Ryanair fined 5.6m euros for not compensating passengers during cabin crew strikes

The Supreme Court and National Court in Spain have ratified fines of 5.6 million euros to Ryanair imposed by the Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), for failing to comply with passenger rights during strikes by its cabin crew.

According to the ruling, the airline breached the rights of passengers booked on the 320 flights that they cancelled at Spanish airports in just two days, on July 25th and 26th, 2018, due to the strikes.

Part of the 5.6 million euros is a final ruling by the Supreme Court and can’t be appealed against, whereas some of it, ordered by the National Court, can be.

The National Court has just rejected an appeal presented by Ryanair, confirming the sanctions for 3.04 million euros approved by AESA, at a rate of 9,500 euros for each of the 320 cancelled flights.

The infractions imposed by AESA are related to the obligation established by European legislation to offer assistance to affected passengers in certain cases, from providing sufficient food and drink, accommodation in a hotel, or transport from the airport to the place of accommodation.

The rest of the fine, 2.56 million euros, is a further sanction of 8,000 euros per cancelled flight from the AESA, which has already been appealed and rejected so is due to be paid.

In this case, the breaches by the airline that the Spanish Government identified, are linked to the obligation to refund the amount of the ticket or offer comparable alternatives, to passengers affected by the cancellation of their flight.