Consumer Organisation Criticises Ryanair (Again)

 

Ryanair has yet again been the subject of harsh criticism by a consumer organisation.

Last week a Spanish court ruled that the airline was at fault for refusing to allow a 6 year old child boarding an aircraft for a domestic flight with her father, for not providing photo ID. Spanish air travel regulations dictate that photo-ID is not a requirement for under 14's and as the flight departed to and from a Spanish airport the court ruled that Rynair should be bound by Spanish regulations.

This time they have come under fire for denying boarding to women wishing to fly who are over 6 months pregnant and are unable to provide an official medical letter confirming that the passenger is medically fit to travel.

The letter needs to be signed by a fully qualified Midwife or Doctor, and must be in English, which means that those who do not speak english as a first language much pay for a sworn translation on top of the cost of their ticket.

Spanish consumer group FACUA says this practice, which is not made clear when booking the tickets online, is considered abusive and that it is illegal to leave a pregnant woman stranded on a matter of small-print.

The organisation claim that Ryanair is legally obliged to compensate passengers who miss their flight on these grounds, and to cover their expenses.

In a typical response that has come to sum up Ryanair's attitude to customer service, the Airline's CEO, Micheal O'Leary, stated that the airline comes under Irish law and he does not see why they should consider the laws of other countries.