Ryanair is facing accusations it barred passengers from its new compensation flight offer by issuing refunds without informing customers they could switch airlines if they preferred.
The budget airline initially resisted calls to pay for customers to fly with alternative providers when it cancelled more than 20,000 flights due to staffing shortages.
Travellers who were initially offered either a refund or an alternative flight with Ryanair have expressed anger that they missed out on the airline’s improved offer.
Many passengers had threatened the airline with legal action over the chaotic situation, demanding compensation for hotels already booked and other expenses.
In what was described by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as a “capitulation”, Ryanair emailed customers on Friday to tell them they could now either receive a refund or be transferred to alternative flights, or to travel by train, bus or hire care – accepting that it has a legal obligation to get passengers to where they wanted to be on the same day.
The CAA had accused the firm of breaking EU laws as the email it had sent customers did not sufficiently outline their consumer rights.
The airline has now offered nearly 700,000 customers compensation for hotels and other “reasonable” expenses. It has also given all affected customers up to £80 in flight vouchers to use on future Ryanair journeys.
Some passengers who had already accepted a refund then flooded the airline’s customer service phone line with requests for the same offer, with reports of beleaguered staff hanging up following angry exchanges.
One customer, who gave her first name as Carmen, told the Independent: "I accepted the initial offer of a flight on a different day because I didn't realise I had the choice of making them pay for another airline to take me on the same day.
"It's been really quite inconvenient as I had booked time off work, and already booked a coach to get me to the airport, things like that. I'd also booked hotels and paid a deposit upfront, which was non-refundable, so I've lost out.
She added that when she called the customer service line, she was met with an "indifferent" attitude.
"When I brought this up with their customer service line - when I eventually got through - the person I spoke to was rude and unapologetic. She told me I was only entitled to another flight and not to any compensation for hotels or anything else.
"Knowing that other people had a better offer, I rang them back up and tried to change my flight back to the original days with an alternative airline - but they said I couldn't do this as I had already accepted the initial offer.
"I'm not sure how this will all play out, but I will be looking carefully at what happens and will try to claim back what I think I am rightfully due. To be honest, it's their attitude that annoyed me as much as the inconvenience. Just total indifference."
The Ryanair twitter feed continues to be flooded with angry complaints from disgruntled passengers with all London to Northern Ireland and London to Scotland flights grounded for the winter.
Initially the airline had cancelled around 2,000 flights – but this jumped by another 18,000 in September in a move affecting around 400,000 customers.
Affected routes include some of the most common flights for British travellers such as Stansted to Edinburgh and Gatwick to Belfast.
The airline’s chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs, said: “We apologise again sincerely for the disruption and inconvenience our rostering failure has caused some of our customers.
“We have taken on extra customer service staff and are moving now to process and expedite all EU261 claims from affected customers. We are committed to processing all such claims within 21 days of receipt and hope to have all such claims settled before the end of October.”
