Ryanair criticised over 'cynical' flight move
13.05.08
Ryanair has been criticised by Ireland's Commission for Aviation Regulation after the budget airline cancelled and then reinstating a flight - with fares over four times their original cost, the Irish Independent reports. The Commission called the move ‘a cynical, commercial exercise’ whilst Ireland's National Consumer Agency said it was investigating. The budget airline responded by offering free flights to those who wrote to its Chief Executive.
Hundreds of fans of Irish rugby club Munster pre-booked the 06:50 flight from Dublin to Bristol Airport earlier this year in the hope their team would make the Heineken Cup final in Cardiff on May 24. They paid less than €50 before taxes.
However, in late March, Ryanair told passengers that the departure time for the flight that day was being changed to 15:00. With Cardiff over 40 miles from Bristol and kick-off at 17:00, many fans took the refund offered by the budget airline.
However, the flight - the same flight on the same day - was reinstated earlier this month after Munster qualified - at 06:50 on May 24 - but with fares before taxes of €229.99. Over four times the original cost.
Ireland's Commission for Aviation Regulation said that the action appeared to be ‘a cynical, commercial exercise.’ It is also being investigated by the National Consumer Agency. However, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said fans could fly to Wales for free ‘if they write into me before the end of this week’.
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