The Civil Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into the case in which Ryanair took a mother off a plane and separated her from her 3-year-old child and her husband.
Due to overbooking of the particular flight, it was decided to put the father and the child on board, and the mother was redirected to fly the next day. Under European law, the passenger is entitled to monetary compensation, which is determined according to the distance of the flight and, in this case, amounts to EUR 400.
The Directorate General ‘Civil Aviation Administration’ has taken self-referred and has already contacted the airline to clarify the reasons leading to the situation. The Authority has urged the carrier that in situations of overbooking, the necessary arrangements should be made so that such cases of separation of families are prevented. The CAA has stressed that in these situations, the human approach should be the guiding principle in passenger selection, over administrative procedures and rules.
Pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation 261/2004 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/BG/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261), in the case of overbooking, the air carrier must first ask all passengers if they are willing to voluntarily cancel their reservations, and they will receive the compensation provided for in Article 9. In the absence of willing passengers voluntarily opting out of the trip, it is the responsibility of the airline's ground handling operator to determine whom to allow on board, with children and persons with reduced mobility taking priority.
More information on passengers' rights when travelling by air can be found here: https://www.caa.bg/bg/category/282