Ryanair is facing a £610m claims bill

Aug 25, 2015

Written By Sofia Gymer, Editor, AllAboutLaw.co.uk

After successfully defending against two claims last year, the notoriously cheap Irish airline Ryanair is now in line to face a claims bill of £610m.

Two previous claims had been dismissed without hold hearings by deputy district judge Masheder, on the grounds that claimants had brought the case to the courts five years and eight months after the flight in question.

The flight had suffered a delay of eight hours in 2008 and the airline argued that, in signing the contract upon purchase, passengers had agreed to a two-year cut off point for claims.

However, when the test case Goel & Trivedi v Ryanair was brought to the Manchester County Court, it seems that Ryanair’s winning streak could last no longer.

His Honour Judge Platts ruled in favour of the claimants, stating that article 15 of the EU flight delay regulations was being violated by the airlines contract; a previous Supreme Court ruling clearly states that passengers should have six years to make a claim, thus the passengers right to bring a claim could not be limited by the clause.

Kevin Clarke, the solicitor at Bott & Co who acted for the claimants, suggests that Ryanair’s previous defence tactic was little more than an evasion tactic.

He said: ‘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.’

The ruling will affect millions of passengers, who are now eligible to make claims. Had Ryanair won, all future claimants could have potentially been limited to two years to bring a case.

However, by upholding the Supreme Court ruling, His Honour Jude Platts has kept the airline accountable and the time constraint to six years.

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