More Ryanair passengers have taken compensation claims for cancellations or delays to arbitration this year than any other airline, figures show.
The no-frills airline accounted for the largest proportion – 30% – of all appeals, according to statistics from the Alternative Dispute Resolution service.
The ADR received 22,159 complaints but only processed 1,347 of 6,653 Ryanair cases in the first nine months of the year.
Ryanair denied “holding up” the compensation process.
Under EU261 legislation, passengers can make a claim when flights are delayed by three hours or more, cancelled or when they are denied boarding.
A total of 22,159 UK passengers went to the arbiter during the nine months over claims for delayed or cancelled flights, the BBC reported.
Some 80% of passengers with Ryanair – which had the highest number of complainants – were still waiting for their case to be dealt with.
The organisation said the speed at which it dealt with appeals was dependent on information provided by airlines.
In comparison, the ADR was able to resolve 74% of cases involving easyJet which received 3,747 complaints – the second highest number.
Only 20% of cases involving Ryanair were resolved in the nine-month period to September 30, with 68% of these people seeing their claim upheld, matching the average successful resolution rate for all airlines.
In response to the findings, Ryanair said it was “committed to handling all valid EU261 claims within ten working days”.
“The fact that a low percentage of passengers were awarded compensation at ADR level demonstrates that Ryanair’s customer service team are correctly handling most claims.
The spokesman added that the “vast majority of denied claims are due to extraordinary circumstances outside our control, such as weather.”
Ryanair also said: “In recent years, during which there were over 15 days of pilot and cabin crew strikes in Germany, Lufthansa was not required to pay EU261 compensation.
“Similarly, the UK CAA should also explain why it took no EU261 action against BA during last year’s cabin crew strikes.”
Ryanair fully complied with the UK Alternative Dispute Resolution rules and deadlines and was committed to the ADR process.