Ryanair finally has paid €5,500 in compensation to a passenger but only because one of its aircraft was going to be seized at Porto airport in lieu of debt.
The Irish carrier failed to comply with an order from a Lisbon court to pay compensation to a passenger for a series of flight delays.
"Ryanair was notified of the lien on Friday, and when we arrived at the airport to make the attachment, Ryanair paid the amount due in compensation to passengers for delays in flights," said lawyer Pedro Mendes Ferreira, who accompanied the execution agent having represented the family that took the company to court.
According to the judgment of the Local Civil Court of Lisbon, the family requested compensation from Ryanair for having been denied boarding a Porto to Ponta Delgada flight and for the "delay of more than five hours," for the return from Madeira back to Porto.
According to Ferreira, prior to today's proceeding everything possible had been done to get the company to pay up since the June sentence, which the airline did not appeal.
Pedro Mendes Ferreira justified the need to seize the airplane because "Ryanair does not have bank accounts in Portugal and is headquartered in Portugal at a law firm in Lisbon."
"There is some disproportion between the value of the debt and the value of the property to be pledged, but Ryanair does not have any assets in Portugal that could cover for the debt," said the lawyer.
The money finally was paid by bank transfer, with Ryanair claiming that it had not received the customer’s bank account details until this week, despite asking for them on October 2nd.
