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EU court tells Ryanair to pay up

Thursday, January 31 11:18:14

The European Union's top court has said that Ryanair has to pay out compensation to passengers that were stranded because the 2010 volcano eruption in Iceland. The European Court of Justice said today that airlines face an obligation to provide care, even in such "extraordinary circumstances" as the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. The eruption left millions of passengers stranded because it was too dangerous to fly through the ash clouds.

The court gave its opinion after an Irish passenger was stranded in southern Portugal for a week during the crisis and demanded compensation of almost E1,130. Ryanair has said it paid out E26.1m to stranded passengers but it has refused many claims, citing their "excessive" cost. The court said passengers can only claim "reasonable" costs. The ruling will affect all air carriers in the European Union.