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Here’s How Ryanair’s Cancellations May Affect Maltese Travellers

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Low-cost airline Ryanair announced last week that it will be cancelling at least fifty flights per day for the upcoming six weeks. Needless to say, this quickly sparked outrage both in the online community as well as to travellers who were affected almost immediately by the cancellations which began last Friday. 

Despite growing pressure to publish a full list of cancelled flights for the aforementioned six weeks, as of writing Ryanair has so far only been able to account for cancellations up until Sunday 24th September. Their marketing officer Kenny Jacobs reported: “we will cancel forty to fifty flights daily for the next six weeks, … with a slightly higher number initially, as we begin to implement these cancellations.” 

Ryanair has so far also gone on to say that unless informed by word of an e-mail, customers were to assume that their flight had not been affected. No word was given on the amount of forewarning passengers would receive however. 

So why is Ryanair cancelling its flights? Allegedly less than 2% of the company’s schedule, the cancellations seem to be the result of poor punctuality (which is said to have dropped below 80% over the two weeks prior to the announcement) and a backlog of staff leave, which in turn comes about following Ryanair’s decision to shift its holiday year from April-March to January-December. 

“We will cancel forty to fifty flights daily for the next six weeks, […] with a slightly higher number initially, as we begin to implement these cancellations.” 

Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair marketing officer

The question on all Maltese passengers’ minds is: will I be affected by the cancellations? So far, it seems that Ryanair flights between Monday 18th and Saturday 24th September do not affect any flights to or from Malta. However, there are no guarantees that cancellations are not bound to happen over the course of these six weeks. 

Either way, if you find yourself in a pickle over a cancelled Ryanair flight, whether in Malta or not, we’ve got you covered.

1. Know your rights

EU citizens are entitled to air passenger rights for cancelled flights which include:

  • Assistance and compensation if the cancelled flight was within an airline’s control
  • Full refunds (paid within seven days), or rebookings for a flight cancelled at short notice

2. Compensation

Air passengers can also claim compensation for cancelled flights, ranging from anywhere between €250 to €600 depending on the duration of the flight. In addition, if a passenger is delayed to their destination by more than three hours they can receive compensation of up to €600, once again dependent on the flight duration and length of the delay. 

3. What is Ryanair offering so far?

Ryanair has set up a contact page which includes a list of cancelled flights, as well as options for refunds and flight changes. 

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Updated 22:30 18th September: Ryanair has now released a full list of planned cancellations. Malta at present does not appear to be affected in flights dated up until 28th October, however any new information will be shared accordingly. 

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Self-titled resident SJW and expressionless in-house Head of Internal Marketing. Matt loves prepping vegan and vegetarian food, consumes way too much coffee, and has an unhealthy penchant for storyboarded Instagram Stories. When he's not trying to figure out social media policies, marketing strategies or cracking SEO conundrums, you can catch him as the host of Basically, Livestream Of Consciousness or Lovin Daily. Hit him up if you've got a story about the environment, arts and culture, health, politics and activism, or LGBTQI+ issues. He's also a doctor, but we don't talk about that.

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