In the UK High Court, the low-cost airline Ryanair suffered a severe defeat against the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The judges ruled that the carrier must compensate passengers even if the cause of the cancellation or delay were strikes with the airline.

The background to this is the wave of strikes that took place in 2018. The pilots and flight attendants paralyzed operations in several waves. Ryanair believes that the circumstances would be exceptional and therefore refused to pay compensation to affected passengers.

The CAA sees the matter completely differently and has taken Ryanair to court. According to a statement from the British Civil Aviation Authority, the High Court upheld the claim and ruled in favor of the authority. As a result, the low-cost airline is not allowed to invoke “exceptional circumstances” in connection with the strikes and has to compensate the travelers concerned.

The matter is not over yet, because Ryanair can appeal against the decision of the court. So far, the carrier has not commented on the content of the High Court's judgment.