EU261 - what is official 'arrival' time?

loco_scolo

Took a flight yesterday from Knock to Milan Bergamo. Official arrival time stated as 21.35, but it was around 3hrs delayed, but that depends on exact definition of arrival time.

Airport board said plane landed at 00.17. FlightRadar24 says plane landed at 00.31. After that it took another 15 or 20 minutes to disembark the bus and arrive at the terminal.

I'm also confused as to the compensation entitlement, as I calculated Knock-Bergamo is >1500km, but Ryanair sent an email while still in Knock saying the flight was now more than 2hrs delayed and we should be aware of our rights under EU261.

To be clear, the Ryanair app stated that the plane was delayed due to a minor technical issue.

L1011

Doors open, not wheels down. You can land 20+ minutes before getting doors open at AMS for instance, without any delays - one of the runways is that far away from the terminals. The time on FR24 is wheels down.

The two hour thing even for a >1500k flight is a rule that airlines need to remind you the rights exist, should the delay go over three hours.

Put in for your claim regardless, considering it is free to do so. Technical issues are not a get-out; the airline could have had another plane available to sub in.

goingnowhere

Its actually time you reach the terminal, thats when the airlines responsibility ends

So doors open and you are stuck waiting for the bus to bring you to the terminal or ground staff to give the ok to disembark. You are still not released by the airline so the clock keeps counting

I did get Stobart on 181 minutes delay once, no challenge was paid, we landed under 3 hours but by the time the doors opened it was just over.

Gooser14

My understanding of EU261 is that it is the departure time that determines whether compensation is due or not. For example, if a flight departs 2 hrs 50 min late & arrives 3 hrs 10 mins late no compensation is due. If a flight departs 3 hrs 10 mins late & arrives 2 hrs 50 mins late no compensation due. If a flight departs 3 hrs 10 mins late & arrives 3hrs 10 mins late compensation may be due depending on reason for delay. My interpretation of the rule may be completely wrong.

bikeman1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122588144#Comment_122588144

This is incorrect. It is the arrival time onto the stand as this is verifiable with the records for the flight. Which is known and block to block time.

Your example of flights losing time would be unusual as once flights push back, with the allotted time they usually make up 10-20 minutes versus the schedule.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122588144#Comment_122588144

It's completely wrong.

Its arrivals, door open time, compared to advertised time only. Both scheduled and actual departure are irrelevant.

Gooser14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122588223#Comment_122588223

Unusual but not impossible! Weather at destination, incident on destination runway etc. could cause a delayed arrival. EU 261, Article 6 deals with compensation in respect of delayed departure. Article 8 deals with delayed arrival as a result of re-routing. Also, the email from Ryanair suggests they were working on departure rather than arrival time.

orionm_73

If the delay to your departure exceeds 2 hrs you are entitled to refreshments etc. That's probably why you got the email at the 2hr mark.

The monetary compensation will arise if the delay to your arrival exceeds 3hrs for short flights under 1500km , for longer flights the delay has to be more, it's a sliding scale.

loco_scolo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122588498#Comment_122588498

This makes sense thanks. We likely could have requested refreshments given a 2hr delay. Compensation outside of that is separate.

Thanks all for answers above. I'm still not sure there is a definitive answer to arrival time - I recall hearing door open before - which makes sense really. If the ground staff are not there to unload the aircraft, it's not the airlines fault (in theory).

I'm fairly certain the door was opened about 1 minute before the 3hour deadline, which is kind of hilarious as I joked to my partner that's probably when we'd arrive 😅🙄

bikeman1

Also the voucher Ryanair provide in my experience is not enough to even cover the cost of a bottle of water in most European airports. Something like €3.50.

EchoIndia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122593952#Comment_122593952

I got one for a value of €8 at SNN last year - you wouldn't buy a lot with it even at that value!