A MAN HAS lost an appeal of a compensation case against Ryanair that he took over being “only two minutes late” to the check-in desk.

Brussels-based EU executive Jonathan Murphy told the Circuit Civil Court he had not checked in for the Ryanair flight online and was told he would have to pay a pre-flight fee.

Murphy said when he arrived to the check-in desk on 20 November 2024 he found it closed.

He said that Ryanair staff told him they would not have time to handle his boarding details before the flight that was scheduled for take off 40 minutes later.

Judge Deirdre Browne heard that the plane Murphy had booked to take him to Dublin then had to stand on the airport apron for four hours as a result of a snowstorm delay. 

In his appeal, he claimed Ryanair had wrongfully failed to facilitate him when they refused to allow him to check in late. 

Murphy told the court that he had to stay overnight in Brussels and pay an extra €100 to transfer to a flight the following day. He also sought a refund of his €250 ticket and compensation from Ryanair, a claim that had been thrown out in the Small Claims Court.

Judge Browne heard that Murphy was delayed due to his phone being stolen and poor weather conditions.

Ryanair representative barrister Kenneth Hyland told the court the airline was strictly obliged under EU regulations to close check-in 40 minutes before take-off and therefore could not facilitate Murphy’s check-in.

Ryanair’s ground operations front-of-house procedures and training manager Jessica Brady told the court that they must adhere to these regulations to facilitate generation of passenger manifest, baggage procedures and other checks by the crew. 

Judge Brown also heard in their defence that the four-hour weather delay was out of Ryanair’s hands.