Ryanair Passengers Left Frustrated After Lanzarote Flight Cancelled Following Technical Delay and Onboard Smoking Incident
Passengers travelling from Madrid to Lanzarote say they have been refused compensation after their Ryanair flight was cancelled following a lengthy delay, a technical problem and an unusual incident involving a passenger smoking in the aircraft toilet.
Passengers on a Ryanair flight bound for Lanzarote have been left facing a frustrating wait after their journey was disrupted by a combination of a technical fault, an onboard smoking incident and restrictions affecting late-night arrivals at César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport.
The incident involved Ryanair flight FR2017 from Madrid to Lanzarote on Monday, August 31, which was scheduled to leave Madrid at 9:55pm. Flight information lists the route as Madrid-Barajas to Lanzarote Airport, with an originally scheduled arrival at around 11:40pm.
However, passengers say the problems began well before the eventual cancellation.
Technical problem delayed the flight
According to an account provided by one of the passengers, those travelling on the flight had already boarded when a technical problem developed with one of the aircraft doors.
Passengers reportedly spent almost two hours waiting on board while technicians attempted to resolve the fault.
It was during this extended wait, at around midnight, that another problem occurred.
One passenger allegedly smoked inside one of the aircraft’s toilets, resulting in the Guardia Civil being called to deal with the incident.
Smoking in aircraft toilets is prohibited under European aviation safety rules. Aircraft lavatories are also required to have smoke-detection systems, highlighting why any suspected smoking incident is treated as a potential safety matter.
Ryanair’s own conditions of carriage also explicitly prohibit smoking anywhere on its aircraft and state that passengers who breach the rule may face prosecution and potentially be liable for costs resulting from disruption.
Flight eventually cancelled
Passengers say that, around the same time as the smoking incident, Ryanair sent them a message explaining that the flight was being cancelled because of a technical problem and the arrival curfew at Lanzarote Airport.
They were reportedly told that the flight would instead operate the following afternoon, at approximately 5:30pm on September 1.
For passengers expecting to arrive in Lanzarote late on Monday night, the cancellation meant a substantial delay to their journey and an overnight wait before they could continue to the island.
César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport operates late into the evening, although Aena currently lists the airport’s Terminal 1 opening hours as 5am to 1am.
Compensation dispute
The situation has become particularly contentious because passengers subsequently sought compensation for the cancellation.
According to the passenger who contacted La Voz de Lanzarote, Ryanair rejected the compensation claim, arguing that the delay resulted from the airport’s arrival restrictions not being met because of the passenger incident, which the airline considered to be outside its control.
However, passengers have questioned that explanation because the aircraft had already been delayed by approximately two hours because of the technical problem before the smoking incident occurred.
That distinction could be important under European passenger-rights rules.
Could passengers be entitled to compensation?
Under EU air passenger rights, passengers whose flights are cancelled can be entitled to financial compensation unless the airline can demonstrate that the cancellation resulted from extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if reasonable measures had been taken.
Importantly, EU guidance states that most technical problems arising during normal aircraft maintenance are not considered extraordinary circumstances. There can, however, be exceptions where a technical problem originates from an event outside the airline’s normal operations and control.
That doesn’t automatically mean the passengers on this particular flight are entitled to compensation. The precise cause of the cancellation, the relationship between the different delays and the circumstances surrounding the airport restriction would all need to be considered.
Ryanair itself also says that compensation depends on the circumstances behind a cancellation and that passengers may be entitled to compensation where the applicable passenger-rights rules are met.
An unusual disruption for Lanzarote travellers
The incident highlights just how quickly several relatively separate problems can combine to cause major disruption on a busy flight to Lanzarote.
In this case, passengers say they first faced a technical problem, followed by an onboard smoking incident and ultimately the cancellation of their flight because the aircraft could no longer arrive within the airport’s permitted operating period.
For now, the dispute centres on whether the later passenger incident can be used as the reason for denying compensation when the flight had already experienced a lengthy technical delay beforehand.
The passengers’ experience also serves as a reminder that flight cancellations to Lanzarote, particularly on late evening services, can have a knock-on effect when an aircraft is already running significantly behind schedule.
