17:59
Miles Brignall
Ryanair has told passengers they will have to wait until “the Covid-19 emergency has passed” if they want a refund for a cancelled flight, writes
Miles Brignall, Guardian money reporter.
Last month Europe’s biggest budget airline was offering passengers on cancelled flights the option of a refund within 20 working days, via its website.
The airline has been forced to ground most of its fleet due to the pandemic, although it is still running a few
flights in and out of the UK, mostly out of Dublin and Stansted.
Passengers were initially delighted, but a Ryanair email sent out on Monday, seen by the Guardian, has heralded an about-turn.
Instead of the refund, passengers have been sent a link telling them how told
how to use its vouchers to purchase Ryanair flights and other services over the next 12 months.
Passengers can still request a cash refund, it states, but the request will be placed “in the cash refund queue until the Covid-19 emergency has passed”.
“We highly recommend using the refund voucher as these are readily available and you can book flights on all Ryanair Group airlines in over 200 destinations,” says the airline.
Passengers who have tried to insist on the refund have told the Guardian that they have been left “waiting for hours to talk to a chatbot”, and it is impossible to get it processed.
Ryanair said: “For any cancelled flight, Ryanair is giving customers all of the options set out under EU regulations, including refunds.”
EU rules require the airlines to refund passengers on flights they cancel within seven days, but the airline industry across the board has ignored this over the last month, citing extraordinary circumstances.
EasyJet has since reintroduced the option of a cash refund online, while BA requires passengers to call the airline, which is near impossible at the moment.
The airlines can only offer credit vouchers with the consent of the passenger but this has not stopped the airlines and travel companies telling passengers, making this the only practical option.