A court in Palma has ordered Ryanair to pay 250 euros compensation to a passenger whose flight was delayed by four hours and 45 minutes.
On April 19 this year, the passenger was due to take a flight from Palma to Milan that was leaving shortly before 9am in order to attend a business meeting. A few minutes before the scheduled departure time, the airline sent him an email informing him that the flight wouldn't be leaving for four and a half hours; in the end it was four hours and 45 minutes late in taking off.
The meeting in Milan was called off because of the delay; the passenger didn't take the flight. Some few days later, he submitted a claim to the airline for 250 euros compensation. Ryanair opposed this, arguing that there was no delay requiring compensation as the passenger didn't take the flight and had therefore renounced the contract with Ryanair. The airline also argued that the passenger could have taken another flight that would have allowed him to arrive on time for the meeting.
The court concluded that the delay was considerable and that compensation was due as he was not given sufficient advance information. Taking an alternative flight would have been "unfeasible".
Ryanair has also been ordered to pay costs.