Denied boarding by Ryan Air even though my passport is visa-free to the destination

Denied boarding by Ryan Air even though my passport is visa-free to the destination - Passport on Top of a Planner

In the check in counter at Ciampino airport in Rome, I was denied boarding, as the Ryanair staff kept asking me to show an Irish visa. But, Malaysian passport holders actually do not need a visa to go to Ireland. I tried to explain this to her and asked her to check, but she didn’t want to check.

She refused to talk to me and asked for the next person in line. So, I was waiting at the check in counter until I missed my flight. After I missed my flight, I explained everything to the supervisor of Ryanair. After they talked to the staff who made that decision, they realised that the staff had made a mistake.

So they offered me a free ticket to go back to Ireland; however, a flight was only available two days later, which meant that I needed to spend extra money for my accommodations and another PCR test in Rome. They denied to pay for my accommodation and PCR test, which cost me more than 100 euros.

I ended up getting a free ticket to Valencia for my partner but finally I still needed to do another PCR. They denied to pay for me for those consequences.

Can I get compensation for these expenses, as per the EU passenger rights charter?



Best Answer

Under regulation EC 261/2004, if you are denied boarding you are entitled to three things (see also Europa.eu):

  • Compensation
  • The right to chose between reimbursement, re-routing or rebooking
  • Assistance

Assistance does cover accomodation but not PCR tests (it was written before the pandemic and doesn't cover visa fees either). The flight you accepted would seem to fall under the second bullet point but accepting that doesn't impact your right to compensation. That much is clear and relatively straightforward even if airlines are known to make difficulties to actually apply the rules.

The key question is whether EC 261 applies at all. It contains the following definition for “denied boarding”:

(j) "denied boarding" means a refusal to carry passengers on a flight, although they have presented themselves for boarding under the conditions laid down in Article 3(2), except where there are reasonable grounds to deny them boarding, such as reasons of health, safety or security, or inadequate travel documentation;

You did, in fact, have adequate travel documentation (and they accepted that fact) so I would conclude that you were denied boarding under that definition.

Concretely that means you are at least entitled to €400 (compensation for a flight over 1500 km).




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Does Ryanair need visa check?

Irrespective of a passenger's visa requirements, all non-EU/EEA citizens must have their travel documents checked and stamped at the Ryanair Visa/Document Check Desk before going through airport security.

Why will Ryanair not let me check in?

You may not be able to check-in online where you purchased your flight through a third party website such as an online travel agent (OTA) which is not authorized by us to use our website or app to offer our flights for sale, and which does so in breach of the Terms of Use of our website (including the mobile app and ...

What are the reasons for denied boarding?

Non-Discriminatory Reasons For Being Denied Boarding
  • Being intoxicated or under the influence of illegal drugs.
  • Attempting to interfere with the duties of a flight crew member.
  • Disrupting flight operations or engaging in unruly behavior.
  • Having an offensive odor that is not caused by a disability or illness.


How do you get denied boarding compensation?

If you are not bumped from a flight for one of the reasons above, you qualify for involuntary denied boarding compensation if an airline requires you to give up your seat on an oversold flight and: You have a confirmed reservation, You checked-in to your flight on time, You arrived at the departure gate on time, and.



RyanAir check in for boarding pass (ENGLISH SUBTITLE)




Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Nataliya Vaitkevich, Julia Volk, Vincent Albos, Ben Mack