# Ryanair Compensation Claim: Delays & Cancellations

> Claim €250–€600 from Ryanair for a delayed, cancelled or overbooked flight, through Ryanair's own EU261 route, and escalate to AviationADR if it refuses.

- Canonical: https://flightclaimletters.pages.dev/guides/ryanair-compensation/
- Section: By airline (https://flightclaimletters.pages.dev/guides/#airlines)
- Published: 21 Aug 2026 · Updated: 6 Sept 2026 · Figures checked: 6 Sept 2026 · 5 min read
- Source site: flightclaimletters — https://flightclaimletters.pages.dev/ · General information, not legal advice.

Ryanair owes the standard EU261 amounts — **€250, €400 or €600 by distance** — when your flight arrives three or more hours late, is cancelled with under 14 days' notice, or you are denied boarding. [Ryanair's own EU261 page](https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-gb/articles/12891928880401-Regulation-EU261) states the same three bands. Which figure applies is in the [amounts table](/guides/eu261-uk261-amounts/).

## Which regime applies to your Ryanair flight

| Your flight | Regime |
|---|---|
| Departs an EU airport, or arrives in the EU from outside on Ryanair | **EU261** — euro amounts, enforcement body of the departure country |
| Departs a UK airport | **UK261** — sterling amounts, UK CAA route and ADR |

A flight from the UK into the EU on a Ryanair Group airline falls under both. Claim once and say which regime you are using.

## Where the €600 band does and does not arise

Article 7(1)(b) caps a flight with **both ends inside the EU** at €400 however far it goes. Ryanair's own page repeats that: €600 is for "all non-internal EU flights of more than 3,500 km". So on a typical intra-EU Ryanair route the realistic outcome is the €250 or €400 band, and a refusal that argues about the top band is usually arguing about the wrong thing.

## Ryanair Group is more than one airline

The UK CAA's register of ADR members lists **Ryanair**, **Buzz**, **Lauda** and **Malta Air** as separate airlines. Ryanair's own help pages carry the "Ryanair DAC" corporate footer. Under Article 2(b) the claim belongs to the airline that **operated** your flight, so check the "operated by" line on your booking before you send anything — a claim aimed at the wrong group company comes back rejected on a technicality rather than on the merits. See [which airline actually owes you](/guides/codeshare-which-airline-pays/).

## Two Court of Justice cases with Ryanair as a party

- ***McDonagh v Ryanair*** ([C-12/11](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62011CJ0012), 31 January 2013). The Icelandic ash cloud was an extraordinary circumstance, so no compensation — but the Court held the duty to provide **care** continued, without a limit in time or money. If Ryanair refuses compensation for a genuine external event, your meals and hotel claim survives intact.
- ***Moens v Ryanair*** ([C-159/18](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62018CJ0159), 26 June 2019). Petrol spilled on the runway by someone else was extraordinary. Note the limit of that: the spill has to come from outside the airline, and Ryanair still has to show what it did to limit the resulting delay.

> **A one-word reason is not a refusal you have to accept.** "Technical", "operational" or "weather" without a specific cause does not discharge the airline's burden under Article 5(3). Reply asking for the cause and the reasonable measures taken, then check it against [extraordinary circumstances](/guides/extraordinary-circumstances/).

## If Ryanair refuses

Send one dated follow-up, then escalate. It is free either way.

- **UK flights.** Ryanair is on the CAA's list of airlines signed up to **[AviationADR](https://www.aviationadr.org.uk/)**. You can go to ADR once you have a final response, or after **eight weeks** with no reply, and you must submit **within 12 months** of that final response. The adjudicator's decision **binds the airline**, and you are still free to reject it and go to court.
- **EU flights.** Take it to the national enforcement body of the country you departed from — the [European Commission keeps the list](https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-themes/passenger-rights/national-enforcement-bodies-neb_en).

Full detail in [if the airline refuses](/guides/escalate-to-regulator/).

## Does Ryanair pay compensation for weather delays?

Not if the weather genuinely made the flight unsafe or closed the airspace — that is an extraordinary circumstance. Ask which conditions, on which date, and whether other flights operated. You still keep the right to meals, a hotel and a refund or re-routing.

## Can I claim on a €20 Ryanair fare?

Yes. The Article 7 amount is fixed by distance and is not linked to what you paid, so a €250 payment on a cheap fare is the normal result, not an anomaly.

## Ryanair sent a voucher instead of money

Article 7(3) says compensation is paid in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank order or cheque — a voucher only **with your signed agreement**. You can decline the voucher and ask for the transfer.

## Rules in force today

This is the law that applies to a flight you take today. A revision of Regulation 261/2004 was adopted in July 2026 — the Parliament approved the conciliation text on 7 July 2026 and the Council gave final approval on 13 July 2026 — and it is not yet in force: it applies 12 months after it enters into force following publication in the Official Journal, and the final text sets the details. See [what the 2026 EU261 reform changes](/guides/eu261-reform-2026/).