Ryanair cancelled your flight: refund, rebooking and compensation
Reviewed by José Romero Lara
EU261 aviation lawyer — 5+ years as in-house legal counsel at international airlines
When Ryanair cancels a flight you’re entitled to get your money back or reach your destination, to assistance while you wait and, in many cases, to cash compensation under Regulation (EC) 261/2004. This guide explains what to ask for, how to file it through the EU261 claim form in the ryanair.com help centre and what to do if it rejects the claim.
Did Ryanair cancel your flight?
Check for free whether you’re owed compensation. Nothing to pay upfront.
Check my flight1What Ryanair owes you for the cancellation
Your rights after a cancellation
Refund or alternative flight
Your choice: the ticket price within 7 days, or reaching your destination (Art. 8)
Assistance
Food and drink, communications and a hotel with transfers if you stay overnight (Art. 9)
Compensation
If it told you less than 14 days ahead and can’t prove extraordinary circumstances (Arts. 5 and 7)
Ryanair vouchers
The refund is paid in money, the way you paid. It can only be a travel voucher if you accept one in writing: you don’t have to swap your money for credit.
Ryanair is an Irish company, which makes it an EU airline. The Regulation therefore applies whether the flight left Spain or any other country in the EU, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland, or was arriving in the EU from outside it.
If you booked through an online agency
When the booking was made through an online travel agency, Ryanair may ask you to verify your details before processing the refund, and it usually returns the money through the same channel used to pay. Always claim in your own name and keep every receipt.
2How much compensation you’re owed
EU261 compensation per passenger
Up to 1,500 km
Madrid–Barcelona, Barcelona–Rome, Seville–Paris
Over 1,500 km within the EU, or 1,500–3,500 km
Madrid–Tenerife, Barcelona–Stockholm, Malaga–Warsaw
Over 3,500 km outside the EU
Ryanair operates few routes this long
If you take the alternative flight Ryanair offers and reach your destination only slightly late, compensation can be halved (Art. 7.2): less than 2 hours late on flights up to 1,500 km, less than 3 hours on flights of 1,500–3,500 km and less than 4 hours on the rest.
Check how much I’m owed3When Ryanair doesn’t have to pay compensation
It told you 14 days or more in advance
You keep the right to a refund or an alternative flight, but not to compensation.
It told you 7 to 14 days ahead
No compensation if the replacement flight departed no more than 2 hours early and arrived less than 4 hours late.
It told you less than 7 days ahead
No compensation if the replacement departed no more than 1 hour early and arrived less than 2 hours late.
Proven extraordinary circumstances
Weather that makes flying unsafe, air traffic control decisions or a controllers’ strike, if Ryanair proves they affected your flight. Assistance is still owed.
A technical fault on the aircraft
A breakdown is part of an airline’s normal business and does not exempt it (CJEU, C-549/07 and C-257/14).
A strike by Ryanair’s own staff
A strike by its pilots or its cabin crew is not an extraordinary circumstance (CJEU, C-28/20), so compensation is owed.
A route carrying few passengers, a fleet reshuffle or a plain "operational reason" are not extraordinary circumstances either. Ask in writing for the specific cause of the cancellation and the evidence behind it.
4How to claim from Ryanair, step by step
- 1
Keep the cancellation notice
The email or message with the date it was sent: that’s what decides whether you’re owed compensation.
- 2
Choose refund or rebooking
Tell Ryanair in writing. If you take the alternative flight, keep its details: the arrival time decides whether compensation is halved.
- 3
Fill in the EU261 form on ryanair.com
It sits in the help centre on the website. You need the booking reference, the flight number and date, when you were told and the amount you’re claiming. Keep the case number.
- 4
Claim your Art. 9 expenses too
If you had to pay for meals, a hotel or transport because Ryanair did not provide them, attach the invoices and claim them alongside the compensation.
- 5
Wait one month
If it doesn’t reply or rejects the claim, you can complain free of charge to AESA when the flight departed Spain or arrived in Spain from outside the EU. For flights from 2 June 2023, its decision is binding on Ryanair, and if it doesn’t pay within a month, you can enforce it in court.
- 6
Escalate: AESA, court or AviFly
You can sue without a lawyer or court agent up to €2,000, or let AviFly handle the claim: 15% + VAT out of court and 30% + VAT in court, only if you get paid.
If your flight was delayed rather than cancelled
The test changes: what counts is the hours of delay on arrival, not the notice you were given. Our Ryanair delay guide, linked at the end of this article, explains it.
AviFly claims from Ryanair for you
Nothing upfront. We only charge if you get your money.
Claim from RyanairFrequently asked questions
Can Ryanair give me a voucher instead of a refund?
Only if you accept one in writing. You can refuse and demand the ticket price back in money within 7 days (Art. 8 of the Regulation).
Can I ask for the refund and the compensation together?
Yes. They are separate rights: the refund returns the ticket price and the compensation is a fixed €250, €400 or €600 for the disruption.
What if Ryanair cites an operational reason or a technical fault?
A technical fault on the aircraft is not an extraordinary circumstance (CJEU, C-549/07 and C-257/14), and a generic operational reason is not either. Ask in writing for the specific cause and its evidence.
What if the cancellation was caused by a Ryanair pilots’ strike?
A strike by the airline’s own staff is not an extraordinary circumstance (CJEU, C-28/20), so you’re owed compensation on top of the refund or rebooking.
How long does Ryanair take to settle a claim?
There’s no fixed legal deadline for the reply. The ticket refund does have one: 7 days. If there’s no answer within a month, you can go to AESA or to court.
How long do I have to claim for a Ryanair cancellation?
In Spain the generally accepted time limit is 5 years from the flight (Art. 1964 of the Spanish Civil Code).
Does the Regulation apply if the flight left from outside the EU?
Yes. Ryanair is an Irish airline, so the Regulation also covers its flights arriving in the EU from a non-EU country.