Ryanair pays out £450m in refunds for cancelled flights and is dealing with backlog of 35 MILLION claims after travel plans were ruined by coronavirus lockdown
- RyanAir chief exec says the company has paid out 500million euros in refunds
- ‘We have 35million refunds to process,’ Michael O’Leary told BBC Breakfast
- He says the firm has ‘another 700million euro to go,’ which could take 12 weeks
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
RyanAir has paid out nearly 500million euros in refunds to customers whose flights were grounded by the coronavirus pandemic – but it could take 12 weeks to make sure everyone is paid.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary told BBC Breakfast this morning the airline company had 35million refunds to process.
Delays in customers getting refunds were revealed last week after a survey from consumer champion Which?
Michael O’Leary, speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, revealed RyanAir still has another 700million euros worth of refunds to issue to customers
At the time some 84 per cent said they were still waiting for their money back, in some cases months after they were told their flight had been cancelled due to the pandemic.
Customers claimed Ryanair provided refund forms that didn’t work, before goading them into accepting credit note vouchers with little consumer protection.
Last month Mr O’Leary said it could take up to six months to process all of the refunds.
RyanAir expects to issue the rest of its refunds within the next three months, flights remain mostly grounded around the country, including at Luton Airport
Speaking today, he said: ‘The good news is we are about 40% of the way through the process and we have already paid out nearly 500 million euro and we’ve got another 600 – 700 million euro to go, we think we will get through that in the next 10 to 12 weeks.
‘We are assuring everyone that your refund is safe, if you want the cash refund you will get it, just be patient because we have to process a record backlog of cancellations caused by Government measures and we have limited staff in our offices to process these refunds, but they are on their way.’
According to the Which? survey of 2,800 travellers, other airlines have performed slightly better in delivering refunds.
Around 63 per cent of easyJet customers said they are still waiting for their money back and just one in seven said they had received a refund within seven days.
A quarter of British Airways passengers (23 per cent) and one in five Jet2 customers (19 per cent) are also still awaiting refunds.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the industry regulator, is investigating issues around refunds and has called on MPs to grant them new powers to take on airlines which flout the rules.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: ‘The regulator and government cannot sit on their hands any longer.
Furious customers took to Twitter to express their frustration and to ask for refunds in April
‘The CAA must urgently hold airlines that are brazenly breaking the law to account, and the government must set out how it will support the industry where necessary if airlines are unable to refund their customers without fear of going under.’
Furious customers took to Twitter in April as they faced delays in getting refunds.
The companie’s customer service chat service was branded ‘useless’ and ‘totally unreachable,’ in April, as people adjusted to life in lockdown.
Two months on more than half of customers who asked for refunds are waiting for their money back.
A RyanAir spokesman said last week: ‘RyanAir is offering vouchers and free moves as these are automated and would give customers an alternative. Customers who choose a voucher but don’t redeem it within 12 months may still apply for and obtain a refund after this 12 month period.
‘This also includes partial redemption, as the portion of the unused voucher will be refunded.’