Ryanair ordered to pay four year old child compensation

 

The Spanish Air Safety Agency have instructed Ryanair to pay compensation in the case of a four year child who was refused boarding on a domestic flight due to not providing any DNI identification.

The young girl's parent had bought two return tickets to fly from Valencia to Palma de Mallorca earlier this year, but upon checking in at Valencia the child was refused boarding with just her Libro de Familia (Family book) being used as means of identification. Whilst Spanish regulations state that passengers under the age of 14 who travel with an adult do not need to carry identification, Ryanair counter that children under the age of 16 who travel with an adult must have an identity document with photograph to travel within countries of the European Economic Area.

The Air Safety Agency ruled that Ryanair’s decision to refuse to deny boarding was ‘unjustified’, and that the cost of the tickets and an additional compensation of 250 Euros must be paid to each passenger.

EU regulations currently state that each member state has the right to decide on the security requirements for air travel within its territory, which must be followed by all airlines which operate at its airports. As such, the domestic Ryanair flight must be bound by Spanish regulations under their National Aviation Security Plan.

Ryanair argued that presenting valid photo ID was a requirement that was agreed to when the passenger accepted the terms and conditions of the airline when purchasing the tickets.