Ryanair's announcement last Friday that it would be cancelling up to 50 flights a day for six weeks has created huge uncertainty for its passengers.
It is estimated that around 350,000 passengers could be directly affected by cancellations, though many may not realise flights are cancelled until shortly before their departure date.
Ryanair this evening published details of the majority of the cancelled flights. Details for this Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday followed.
Here's a breakdown of how events have unfolded since the story emerged:
Monday 18 September
- The Commission for Aviation Regulation says if Ryanair cancels a flight, it must offer the choice of an alternative flight at the earliest opportunity or at a later date, or a full refund of the ticket.
- Twelve flights are cancelled between Dublin, Manchester, Barcelona, London, Bristol, Brussels and Amsterdam, while six flights for Tuesday 19 September are cancelled between Dublin, Krakow, and Berlin.
- It is estimated that around 350,000 passengers could be directly affected, with a Ryanair spokeswoman stating the cancellations will cost Ryanair around €20m.
- The number of Ryanair pilots to have defected to Norwegian Air reaches 140.
- Aviation Regulation Commissioner Cathy Mannion tells RTÉ News that Ryanair "fully accept" they will have to pay compensation
- In a press conference, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary apologises to customers affected by the flight cancellations and acknowledges that the airline "messed up".
- Ryanair confirms the full list of flight cancellations will be published on the Ryanair website by this evening.
- Ryanair confirm the airports where one line of flying will be removed for the next six weeks are Dublin, Barcelona, Brussels, Lisbon, London Stansted, Madrid, Milan Bergamo, Porto, and Rome Fiumi
- Mr O'Leary says all customers on affected Ryanair flights will receive an email today offering an alternative flight or a full refund.
- Mr O’Leary says Ryanair will not be paying for flights on other airlines for customers affected by flight cancellations.
- Ryanair states that passengers who do not wish to take the alternative flights offered will receive a full refund and their EU261 compensation.
- Ryanair publishes list of majority of flight cancellations
- Further details of cancellations published
Sunday 17 September
- The Commission for Aviation Regulation said Ryanair will have to pay compensation to passengers whose flights have been cancelled with less than two weeks' notice.
- The airline had so far given people notice of sometimes just hours, and at most five days.
- Ryanair says the disruption is because of difficulties it is having managing a transition of its leave year from an April to March model, to the calendar year of January to December, as required by European regulations.
- Compensation for cancelled flights starts at €250 for flights up to 1,500km, €400 for longer EU flights and €600 for flights outside the EU longer than 3,500km.
Saturday 16 September
- Ryanair said the cancellation of flights was happening because the airline "messed up the planning of pilots' holidays".
- The airline apologised to "the small number of passengers affected" and said they can take a full refund or travel on a later flight.
- In a statement, the airline said cancellation notices had been emailed to customers up to and including Wednesday 20 September.
- Ryanair published a list of eight cancelled flights, all either to or from Dublin.
Friday 15 September
- Ryanair announced it would be cancelling up to 50 flights a day from its schedule for the next six weeks, up to the end of October, due to a backlog of holidays for pilots and crew members.
- The airline said it was taking the move in an effort to improve its system-wide punctuality.
- It said that the cancellation of between 1,500 to 2,500 flights accounts for less than 2% of its flying programme over the next six weeks.
