Ryanair: Possible payment of millions in damages

Irish low-cost airline Ryanair could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation to passengers due to flight delays.

The court in Manchester confirmed that passengers have a period of six years to claim compensation for flight delays, reports Capital.ba.

The court ruled against Ryanair, which states in its business conditions that passengers have two years to file a claim for compensation.

The company announced it would appeal the decision, which could force it to pay millions of passengers up to 600 euros per person if their flights were delayed by more than three hours, except in cases where they were delayed due to weather or security threats.

Ryanair representatives believe that the six-year term for such claims is unnecessary and unreasonable, which is why they have announced an appeal. They added that the passengers, who accepted the airline's conditions and the two-year limit, waived their right to compensation at the end of the period.

The court, however, states that EU regulations, which provide for a period of six years, are valid.

The case was initiated based on the complaints of six passengers whose flight from Reus in Spain to London in March 2008 was delayed for almost ten hours. The passengers filed complaints five years and eight months after the trip.