Getting compensation for delayed flight

[zxcvbnm]

I've had a terrible run of delayed flights recently

All of the last 5 flights over the last 2 months I have been on have been significantly delayed - a total of a 16 hour delay - over 3 hours delay on average per flight.
I've never gad a run like it.
(4 of them were ryanair. I was always a ryanair fan but i've now definitely changed to any other airline if it is a viable option.)

Last nights flight with Ryan air was delayed by 5 hours. The reason given by pilot was 'Air traffic control'. Pretty much no other flights on the board were delayed to any significant amount of time other than my one.

As per EU regulations you are entitled to a compensation of EUR250 if you arrive more than 3 hours late at your destination.
However - this excludes extraordinary exceptions such as weather etc. I see in EU regulation that Air traffic control is also an exception.

So what's to stop Ryanair just saying it was Air traffic control? I certainly wouldn't put it past them. If they had to pay out €250 to each passenger it would cost them €50k.

IS there anything I can do here? IS there any website for example that states official reason why flight was delayed other than taking Ryanairs word for it?

 

[iamaspinner]

I found the Citizens Information page very good as a starting point.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/e...ation_for_overbooked_and_delayed_flights.html

In your case, however, I got this from a quick search:

What caused the delay?
You can claim compensation if the delay was the fault of the airline.

For instance, you can probably claim if the delay was caused by poor aircraft maintenance or flight crew being unavailable.

However, delays caused by things like extreme weather, air traffic control or airport employee strikes, situations where the entire airport was closed or other ‘extraordinary circumstances’ are not eligible for compensation.

https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/re...tions/delays/short-haul-delays--compensation/

 

[zxcvbnm]

I found the Citizens Information one very good as a starting point.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/e...ation_for_overbooked_and_delayed_flights.html

Thanks for that.

Yes - I am aware of the process. And Air traffic control reason means that compensation is not payable. But I guess my question is how do I know that it was air traffic control? Whats to stop ryanair just saying that?

IS there any public site whereby the official reason for a delayed flight is listed by an independent body rather than the air line themselves. Im assuming this data is collated someplace?

As I say - it would cost Ryanbair €50k in this instance to compensate people - so I relaly wouldn't trust them

 

[Bronte]

[broken link removed]

This company will get you your refund for a 30% cut.

If you're going to claim yourself it is a good idea to take a photo of the arrivals board showing your flight was late or else go on the airport website and take a print screen of it. Etc.

The claim company is probably a good idea if you're
a) not up to trying to deal with the airline
b) not sure if you're being lied to about why the plane is late