During my travels, many flights were delayed by 1 or 2 hours, but never overnight or longer than 3 hours. Some of them were delayed, but I was not eligible to claim compensation, more on that below. This time my flight was delayed by almost 20 hours, which was something new for me. Since I didn’t know how the whole thing works, and now I do, I’ll explain what happened and how I filed a claim and received 250 euros from Ryanair.
EU261 is an abbreviation for the EU261/2004 regulation of the European Union that protects passengers from negligent airlines. Airlines were not happy with it, but they had no choice but to follow it. It is important to know that it also works for non-EU countries, if the route is to the EU or from Eastern Europe (in my case, the Sarajevo – Thessaloniki flight).
When have my flights been delayed and I had no right to complain? I once flew from Spain and the flight was delayed due to a strike. It was delayed for about 3 hours and we were sitting on the plane at the airport the whole time. The next time my flight from Albania was delayed, it was due to a severe storm that lasted for several hours, but again I had no right to complain due to weather conditions.
But when is it possible to file a complaint? So, it is possible to file a complaint only if it was Ryanair, and not other external factors. How do you know if the airline was at fault? If they don’t announce weather conditions or an airstrike or air traffic control or the like, that’s up to the airline.
So my flight was delayed by 2:50 minutes. After 2:00, I received a message that my flight was on its way to the airport, but just a few minutes later another message arrived that the flight had been delayed overnight. I was also informed that accommodation and transportation from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the airport will be arranged by Ryanair. Messages are sent by SMS directly to the number.
I must say that at the same time I received an email from Ryanair about my rights as a passenger, so it was fair of Rynair to admit their mistake straight away and even inform all passengers of their rights. This surprised me after reading all the negative things about them.
My flight the next day was on time. I read on some forums that I have to save screenshots or take pictures on the screens, which is nonsense. Flight delays are everywhere in systems, so it’s easy to find evidence stronger than your screenshot.
I applied directly on the Ryanair website. If you use the services of third-party agencies, they will charge a fee, so it’s always better to go direct. There is a link ryanair.com/ba/en/myryanair/requests/new/eu-261 (01-07-2026), if the url changes, google eu261 ryanair claim.
When I sent the flight number, it showed my flight and said I could submit a claim. 4 days later I received an answer that I had to submit more documents (identity card, bank account), and again 3-4 days later I received that my case was confirmed and that I would receive the money in 14-20 working days.
Compensation is calculated based on kilometers of your flight and can be €250 to €600. You can follow your case on web, if you click on “My Support cases”. Please have in mind that usually Ryanair is sending email about last update, but sometimes it’s late.
I received money 19 days after submitting the case, without any complication. Ryainair made everything pretty easy to be honest.
