26-Aug-2010 11:16 AM
Ryanair defends ash crisis refund delays
Ryanair has defended its handling of volcanic ash refunds, after the LCC has emerged as the only Irish airline with a large number of claims outstanding (RTE News, 25-Aug-2010). Ryanair has provided all affected passengers with ticket refunds, however it is estimated half of all expense claims for hotels and subsistence costs are yet to be paid. Ryanair stated it prioritised the ticket refunds but processing of expense claims will take until the end of 2010. Ryanair stated that the Apr-2010 ash cloud cost the airline EUR50 million. Aer Lingus has processed 95% of all claims and Cityjet and Aer Arann completed processing their claims.