Ryanair UK today (24 April 2025) confirmed that it has been forced to delay flight RK1265 from Agadir to Manchester overnight due to the failure of the CAA Regulator to allow a Ryanair Group airline to operate a rescue flight following the diversion of the Ryanair UK (RUK) aircraft to Faro due to a disruptive passenger onboard.

Ryanair had a spare Ryanair DAC aircraft and crew available to operate this rescue flight but the incompetent CAA regulators refused permission for a Ryanair DAC registered aircraft to operate a rescue flight, forcing Ryanair UK to unnecessarily delay this flight overnight and disrupt 177 passengers. This unlawful and arbitrary refusal by CAA bureaucrats means that Ryanair UK will now be forced to take legal action to compel the CAA to comply with the law, remove this arbitrary restriction on the use of leased aircraft in unforeseen circumstances (i.e., diversion due to disruptive passenger), and stop discommoding Ryanair UK passengers.

A Ryanair UK spokesperson said: 

“Despite the UK Govt’s repeated calls on UK regulators to promote economic growth, the CAA bureaucracy is doing the opposite. After several years of Ryanair Group airlines assisting each other with rescue flights on identical aircraft, which prevents delays and cancellations in unforeseen circumstances, the CAA today inexplicably refused to allow a Ryanair Group airline to operate a rescue flight for another Ryanair Group airline, disrupting 177 passengers. 

This regulatory failure of the CAA’s anti-EU stance has led to the overnight delay of this Agadir to Faro flight today, disrupting 177 Ryanair UK passengers, which directly undermines the Starmer Govt’s efforts to restore efficiency and promote growth in the UK economy.

We call on the Prime Minister to intervene and demand that the CAA regulator removes these bureaucratic roadblocks it has so unnecessarily created for Ryanair UK and its passengers at a time when the UK economy urgently needs less CAA red tape and more connectivity and growth.”