Passengers on Ryanair are facing a £2 trip surcharge to cover the cost of paying compensation when flights are cancelled.
The no-frills carrier announced the levy as it stepped up pressure on the European Commission to change the law.
Currently passengers whose flights are cancelled or significantly delayed are entitled to demand the reimbursement of an array of costs including food and accommodation under a regulation known as EU261.
Ryanair is demanding that airlines be exempted from the obligation to pay compensation when events are outside their control.
This would apply to extreme weather and strikes by outside organisations.
The airline said EU 261 had cost more than £88 million last year, when it was forced to cancel 15,000 flights, hitting the journeys of 2.4 million of its passengers.
In many cases the amount of compensation paid was far higher than the original price of the plane ticket.
Aviation was repeatedly crippled, notably by the closure of most of European air space following the eruption of the Icelandic volcano.
There was also a wave of industrial disruption involving air traffic controllers and then in November and December many airports were closed across Europe because of heavy snow.
Ryanair said the levy, which will be two euros for passengers elsewhere in Europe, would help cover the cost it is forced to pick up when flights are grounded.
“ It is clearly unfair that airlines are obliged to provide meals and accommodation for passengers simply because governments close their airspace, or air traffic controllers walk off the job, or incompetent airports fail to clear their runways of snow,” said a Ryanair spokesman.
The aviation industry has been unhappy about the regulation for some time, especially as other transport operators can claim exemption if the disruption was due to force majeure.
Flybe, a rival airline, accused Ryanair of using the levy as a “thinly disguised fuel levy, while easyJet said it will not impose a surcharge.
“EU 261 places an unfair burden on airlines and easyJet would like to see it reformed. However, easyJet has no plans to follow Ryanair in applying an the charge on our passengers.”
Source: The Telegraph