Family's flight to Spain gets cancelled and Ryanair asks them to go to the airport every morning until they get a seat on a plane

Ryanair has been reported for improper treatment of a Spanish family of four from Valencia whose flight back to Spain got cancelled.

After their holiday in France, the couple with two children were to catch their return flight on 30 June 2022. However, after the cancellations, the Ryanair representatives at the airport counter asked them to go back to the airport every morning until they were given seats on another flight. That was the only solution they were offered.

Now consumers organisation Facua has proceeded the case and Ryanair will have to pay a total of 2,546 euros back: 1,546 for the return flights and 1,000 euros as a compensation for any other expenses that originated from the inconvenice.

However, this was not achieved without a fight. Firstly, although Ryanair is obliged to offer "sufficient food and drinks", "hotel accommodation" and "transport between the airport and the accommodation" in case of a cancellation, as established in European Regulation 261/2004, the airline did not fulfil its responsibilities.

In addition, the regulation states that passengers must receive compensation that varies depending on the route. In this case, as it was a flight of less than 1,500 kilometres, this compensation amounted to 250 euros per passenger: a total of 1,000 euros.

The family refused to wait for four seats to eventually become available on a future flight, so they bought their return tickets with another airline, which cost them 1,236 euros. In addition, they had to spend the night in a hotel.

They contacted Facua as soon as they arrived in Spain. When the consumer organisation approached Ryanair, demanding a reimbursement of 2,500 euros, the airline did not respond.

Facua brought the case to the attention of the Spanish aviation safety agency (Aesa), which referred the case to the French directorate of civil aviation, as the flight had been cancelled in French territory.

As soon as Ryanair learned that the French agency had opened an investigation, it contacted the family to inform them that they would be compensated the 2,546 euros.