Ryanair changed reason for flight delay to avoid compensation Liverpool-Barcelona
Ryanair changed the reason for my delay to avoid paying compensation, need advice
Flight FR6558, Liverpool to Barcelona, 2 July 2026. Delayed from 13:40 all the way to around 21:30, landed nearly 8 hours late at 00:27.
At 12:15 on the day, I got an official in-app notification stating: "your flight FR6558 is delayed because the aircraft operating your flight got stuck out of base last night due to the crew reaching their maximum daily flying hours." I have a timestamped screenshot of this.
Ryanair airport staff also told me a substitute aircraft was coming in from Ireland to operate the flight, and once onboard, the pilot personally apologised and said he didn't know what had happened with the previous flight. Independent flight tracking shows the substitute aircraft (EI-EMN) made a short, unusual round trip through Shannon, Ireland shortly before operating my flight, consistent with it being scrambled in as a last-minute replacement rather than simply running late.
At the airport, check-in staff also handed me a printed notice confirming my rights, and verbally told me I'd be entitled to a refund of the flight, compensation, and to have my expenses covered.
After landing, I submitted my EU261 claim. It was rejected, stating the delay was caused by "adverse weather conditions suffered by the operating aircraft on previous sectors" - a completely different reason to what I was told at the time, and weather was never mentioned once on the day.
I've submitted two claims with the screenshots and the contradiction laid out clearly, and both times got the exact same copy-paste template response, completely ignoring the evidence.
Going to ADR next, but has anyone dealt with this exact "they switched the reason after the fact" situation successfully?
How long did it realistically take, and is there anything specific I should include or do differently to strengthen the case?
From my research it looks like this is not the first time this has happened and previous customers have been able to get compensation.