Cancelled & Rescheduled Flights

Rescheduled Flight

We will contact you by email, push notification or, occasionally, SMS text message using the contact details you provided in your booking. Alternatively, you can check your flight status via My Bookings.

If you have booked through a third-party travel agent which did not provide us with your correct contact details (i.e., e-mail address or phone number), we may not be able to inform you directly of any important changes affecting your flight. For more details, please see here.

If your flight has been rescheduled, you may choose among the following options, as applicable:

  1. Take the rescheduled flight;
  2. Request to be re-routed, under comparable transport conditions, to your final destination at your earliest opportunity or at a later date at your convenience, subject to availability;
  3. Change your flight to new times/dates on the same route for free;
  4. Apply for a refund here.

We try to notify customers of a rescheduled flight at least 90 days before their outbound flight or as soon as possible.

You may be entitled to compensation or expenses as set out in the following notice of your rights under EU Regulation 261/2004.

You are not entitled to compensation when:

  • we can prove that the rescheduling is due to extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken by Ryanair, including but not limited to political instability, safety and security reasons, weather disruption, labour disputes or failure or delay of air traffic control facilities;
  • you were notified about the rescheduling of your flight more than 14 days before its scheduled departure date;
  • you were notified about the rescheduling between two weeks and seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered rerouting, allowing you to depart no more than two hours before the scheduled time of departure and reach your final destination less than four hours after the scheduled time of arrival;
  • you were notified about the rescheduling less than seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing you to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach your final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival.

You may be entitled to the following care:

  • Meals and Refreshments (relative to the waiting time);
  • Two telephone calls;
  • Hotel accommodation;
  • Transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other).

You will need to contact us before arranging any alternative transport so that we have the chance to try and accommodate you first. Where it is not feasible for us to arrange the care set out above, we will reimburse you for your reasonable receipted expenses to be submitted here.

Cancelled Flight

If you were informed of the cancellation of your flight at least 14 days before the scheduled time of departure you can:

  1. Apply for a refund here;
  2. Request to be re-routed, under comparable transport conditions, to your final destination at your earliest opportunity or at a later date at your convenience, subject to availability;
  3. Change your cancelled flight to new times/dates on the same route for free.

If you were informed of the cancellation of your flight less than 14 days prior to your scheduled departure time you can:

  1. Change your cancelled flight to new times/dates on the same route for free here or;
  2. Request to be re-routed, under comparable transport conditions, to your final destination at your earliest opportunity or at a later date at your convenience, subject to availability of seats or;
  3. Apply for a refund here.

You may also be entitled to compensation as set out in the following notice of your right under EU regulation 261/2004. Entitlement for compensation for cancelled flights depends on eligibility criteria. There are only a small number of cases where passengers are entitled to compensation for cancelled flights. Flights can be cancelled for reasons beyond our control, for example, ATC strikes, adverse weather conditions, medical emergencies, etc. If circumstances are beyond Ryanair’s control, you will not be entitled to compensation. Check to see if you are entitled to receive compensation by clicking here. Ryanair operates over 2,800 flights per day so it can take 24-96 hours for our operations team to establish why a flight has been cancelled. Please be rest assured it is a priority for us to resolve all potential claims as quickly as we can.

If we have contacted you and sought to provide assistance as required by Regulation EU261 but you have nonetheless decided to make your own arrangements on this regard, please bear in mind you might not be entitled to be reimbursed any additional costs you incurred.

You can change your flight date (and/or) route by accessing ‘My Booking’ on the Ryanair website or App. Click here to access your booking and change your flight.

Our priority is to ensure you reach your destination. If there are no suitable Ryanair flights available, you will need to contact us to get airport assistance from Ryanair agents before making alternative arrangements so that we have the chance to try to accommodate you first.

You may then be advised to re-book the flights yourself, and submit your receipts for a refund of your costs.

Any extras such as bags, seats or other products you purchased for your flight will be transferred to your new flight booking subject to availability.

If your purchased product is not available on the new flight, we will offer you a similar product (such as a seat of the same type), and if this is not available, you are entitled to a refund of the fee you paid originally.

If you choose not to fly but have already checked in your bags, your bags will be offloaded and you will be able to reclaim them at the baggage hall of the departure airport.

Insurance

To request an insurance “no show” or “confirmation of travel” letter please click here.

For a flight delay or cancellation, you may request an insurance letter in PDF format. Contact us to request it. This will be sent to the email address you provided to us when you made your booking.

Delayed Flight

If your flight is expected to be delayed for two hours or more (for flights up to 1,500km) or three hours or more (for intra-EU flights over 1,500km and other flights between 1,500km and 3,500km) you will receive assistance at the airport, including meal coupons. Flights can be cancelled for reasons beyond our control, for example, ATC strike, adverse weather condition, medical emergencies, etc. If your delay extends to the next day, we will oftentimes provide hotel accommodation and transportation between the airport and the accommodation.

Contact us before arranging transport because if we cannot provide the specified care we will reimburse your reasonable receipted expenses that you submit here.

Additionally, you may choose among the following options, as applicable:

  1. Take your original flight at its new departure time or;
  2. Request to be rerouted, under comparable transport conditions, to your final destination at the earliest opportunity or at a later date at your convenience, subject to availability of seats or;
  3. Change your flight to new times/dates on the same route for free here. 

You may also be entitled to compensation as set out in the following notice of your right under EU regulation 261/2004. Entitlement for compensation for delayed flights depends on eligibility criteria. There are only a smallnumber of cases where passengers are entitled to compensation for cancelled flights. Flights can be cancelled for reasons beyond our control, for example ATC strikes, adverse weather conditions, medical emergencies, etc. Ifcircumstances are beyond Ryanair’s control, you will not be entitled to compensation. Check to see if you are entitled to receive compensation by clicking here. Ryanair operates over 2,800 flights per day so it can take 24-96 hours for our operations team to establish why a flight has been cancelled. Please be rest assured it is a priority for us to resolve all potential claims as quickly as we can.

For delays of 5 hours or more, if you choose not to travel, you can request a refund here, however, please bear in mind that most refund applications are unsuccessful due to situations that are outside of Ryanair’s control meaning we are not obliged to pay you a refund.

If we have contacted you and sought to provide assistance as required by Regulation EU261 but you have nonetheless decided to make your own arrangements on this regard, please bear in mind you might not be entitled to be reimbursed any additional costs you incurred.

EU-261 Passenger Rights

In the unfortunate event of a flight delay or flight cancellation, we do our best to minimise the impact of these circumstances. See below for more information on your care entitlements, as well as instructions on how to claim travel expenses and compensation.

EU261 regulations are common rules on compensation and assist passengers event of denied boarding, flight cancellations or long flight delays.

If you have experienced a flight delay or flight cancellation and you choose to be re-routed as soon as possible, you may be entitled to the following: 

  • Meals and Refreshments that are reasonable in relation to the waiting time;
  • Two telephone calls or e-mails;
  • Reasonable hotel accommodation where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary;
  • Transport that is reasonable between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other).

*Please note that the above care entitlements are not applicable should you choose to be re-routed at a later date at your convenience or if you choose to get a refund.

Information on EU-261

EU261 affects passengers departing from/arriving into the European Union and the European Economic Area.

Please note, not all passengers are entitled to EU261 compensation. Eligibility is determined by a number of criteria.

Monetary compensation is determined by the following distances between departure/arrival airports:

  • €250 in respect of all flights of 1,500 km or less or;
  • €400 in respect of all intra-EU flights of more than 1,500 km and for all other flights between 1,500 km and 3,500 km or;
  • €600 in respect of all non-internal EU flights of more than 3,500 km.

If your flight has been cancelled or delayed you might be eligible for compensation or expenses. There are various rules and restrictions regarding making a claim, therefore it is advised to check your eligibility before requesting compensation and expenses.

For more information on your options for a delayed flight, click here.

For more information on your options for a cancelled flight, click here.

Entitled for compensation for disrupted flights depends on eligibility criteria.

  • If the flight delay or cancellation is outside of Ryanair’s control. These are extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided by all reasonable measures. They include, adverse weather conditions, de-icing, lightning strikes, runway/airport closure, strike action, issues with Air Traffic Control, bird strike, foreign object debris, external handling difficulties, security and medical emergencies;
  • If you were notified of a flight cancellation more than 14 days in advance of your scheduled departure date;
  • If your flight was delayed and arrives at its final destination with a delay that is less than 3 hours.

Ryanair urges customers with valid EU261 compensation claims to submit their claims directly to Ryanair and avoid “claims chaser” firms who can deduct over 40% of a €250 claim in fees. Customers with valid claims who claim directly from Ryanair will receive 100% of their EU261 compensation entitlement without the deduction of these excessive “claims chaser” fees. Customers may submit claims to Ryanair via our user-friendly compensation form.

For more information on your options for a delayed flight, click here.

For more information on your options for a cancelled flight, click here.

Compensation Form