Admittedly European aviation is perhaps a bit too regulated in certain ways, and sometimes you need some parties to push the boundaries in order to force change. However, I can’t help but think that Ryanair maybe crosses that line…
Ryanair suggests seven-minute delay causes diversion
Ryanair has put out an angry press release, with the following title:
Ryanair Flight Diverted After 7-Minute Weather-Related Delay — LuBB Again Rejects Exemption From Night Flight Ban
Wait, a flight had a seven-minute delay due to weather, and that caused a diversion? I’m right there with Ryanair, we should be furious, this is unacceptable! How could regulators do that to these poor passengers? But let’s take a closer look.
The flight in question was on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. Specifically, we’re talking about Ryanair flight FR1571, scheduled to operate from Vilnius (VNO) to Berlin (BER). The 510-mile flight was supposed to depart at 10:10PM and arrive at 10:50PM (with a one-hour time change, meaning the block time is 1hr40min).
Let me mention that Berlin has a night curfew from 11:30PM until 5:30AM. That curfew applies for scheduled arrivals, and then there’s a 30-minute grace period for delays, so that flights can land until 12AM.
On this night, the flight was running way behind schedule. The aircraft only took off from Vilnius at 11:52PM, over 1hr40min behind schedule.
11:52PM in Vilnius is 10:52PM in Berlin, meaning the plane would’ve had to land in Berlin within 1hr8min of takeoff in order to make it in time for 30-minute extension on the curfew. This flight ordinarily takes somewhere around 1hr20min, and the last time it was operated in a flight time of 1hr8min or less was on January 13, 2025. That’s right, for over four months, the flight hasn’t once operated in less time than what the airline was allowing here.
Ryanair’s press release makes no mention of the fact that the flight took off nearly two hours late, but instead, just focuses on a seven minute weather delay. But even that doesn’t make much sense, given that this flight takes longer than the airline allotted.
The plane ended up having to divert to Hanover (HAJ), where it touched down at 12:26AM, and then passengers had to be transported to Berlin by bus.
Ryanair is furious about diversion, demands change
Ryanair’s Head of Communications DACH, Marcel Pouchain Meyer, said the following in regards to this situation:
“It is completely unacceptable that passengers are being subjected to unnecessary disruption by the LuBB’s refusal to grant even minor exceptions to the night flight ban. It makes no sense that aircraft are repeatedly diverted from Berlin Airport just minutes after the night flight ban begins and forced to fly to Hanover, where passengers then have to endure a three-hour bus ride back to Berlin. It would be far more sensible and environmentally friendly to grant airlines appropriate flexibility to allow them to land in Berlin to a reasonable extent after the night flight ban begins.”
“We call on Carsten Diekmann to immediately work with the responsible authorities on a solution and to stop further damaging Berlin’s competitiveness.”
Look, I appreciate the extent to which Ryanair is an important competitor that keeps airfare low. But the airline is downright gaslighting regulators here. The company is blaming regulators for causing a diversion over a seven-minute delay, while conveniently not mentioning that the flight was running nearly two hours late.
When the plane took off from Vilnius, it was unrealistic to expect that it would land in time for the 30-minute extension on the curfew curfew, but the airline did that anyway. That’s an operational decision that Ryanair made, and suggesting that regulators are unreasonable is baseless. The 30-minute extension on the curfew exists for this very reason. But now Ryanair wants an extension on the extension.
Look, do I think curfews are kind of silly, and there should be more flexibility? Personally I think so, but I also don’t live near an airport with a curfew, and I also sleep with a really loud white noise machine. Regardless, the way that Ryanair is going about blaming regulators is just ridiculous, in my opinion.
Bottom line
Ryanair claims that one of its planes was prevented from landing in Berlin with a delay of just seven minutes, due to the nighttime curfew. The airline conveniently omits the fact that the plane departed from its origin nearly two hours behind schedule, and it was unrealistic for the plane to land in Berlin before the end of the 30-minute extension on the curfew.
Nonetheless, Ryanair is fully blaming regulators here and is demanding change, with more flexibility around curfews. While there are reasonable arguments to be made against curfews, the way Ryanair is going about it just isn’t right, in my opinion.
What do you make of this Ryanair curfew situation?
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