A Ryanair flight bound for London was delayed on Monday after bailiffs boarded the plane over an unpaid passenger debt. The ultra-low-cost carrier had ignored a court order to pay a passenger who had claimed legal costs and compensation for a delayed flight that happened in 2024. The total cost of the order was $1,020 (€890).
The bailiffs’ entry delayed the outbound flight to London, and a ‘cuckoo’ sticker was placed on the cabin, giving the court legal control of the Boeing 737. The bailiffs requested payment in cash from the crew, but because the budget carrier operates a cashless system, its crew were unable to comply.
A Long-Running Dispute Over Compensation
Credit: Flickr
As suggested by The Guardian, a lawyer who was acting on behalf of the passenger claiming compensation planned to continue enforcement action until the debts were paid. The dispute, which began back in 2024, stemmed from a delayed flight from Linz (LNZ) to Palma De Mallorca Airport(PMI), which faced a delay of more than 13 hours.
Under EU Regulation 261/2004, the passenger was entitled to claim compensation for the delayed flight. Ryanair refused to pay the passenger, and thus the passenger took the case to court. The court decided in the passenger’s favor and ordered Ryanair to pay the claimed sum, in addition to legal costs and interest. As Ryanair continued not to respond, the passenger requested that Austrian authorities step in.
As a result, bailiffs were dispatched to this week’s Ryanair flight, where they looked to place a cuckoo sticker on the 737 and demand payment. A spokesperson for Linz Airport shared the following statement,
“We were informed that there was a pending claim against Ryanair in court and that a bailiff has been instructed by the district court of the city of Traun to carry out an official act. We accompanied the bailiff to the aircraft, where the bailiff carried out his official duties.”
Ryanair Flight 1694 Delayed For Over An Hour
Credit: GCMap
According to data from Flightradar24, the aircraft operating the flight on Monday, March 9, was a Boeing 737-800 NG carrying the Irish registration EI-EXE (serial number 40321). Ryanair had scheduled to operate the afternoon flight FR1694 from Linz Airport, located in Austria’s third-largest city in the north-central part of the country, to the carrier’s base at 
London Stansted Airport (STN).
The flight was scheduled to depart at 3:55 pm local time, but bailiffs entered the aircraft before it could leave, delaying pushback from Linz by one hour and 19 minutes. The plane was eventually permitted to depart and finally left Linz at 5:14 pm. The aircraft then traveled as planned for the one-hour and 30-minute journey to London, arriving at 5:44 pm, 51 minutes behind its scheduled arrival time of 4:55 pm. Further aircraft details below as per ch-aviation:
Aircraft Registration
EI-EXE
Serial Number (MSN)
40321
Hex Code
4CAA60
First Flight Date
October 30, 2012
Age
13.4 years
Delivery Date
December 3, 2012
Configuration
189 economy class seats
Ryanair currently operates year-round between Linz and London, with the month of March seeing a twice-weekly service. The airline also maintains a year-round service to Alicante and seasonal services to Bari. Other carriers serving Linz include Corendon Airlines and Eurowings (seasonally), and DAT (year-round to Frankfurt starting on March 29).
Related
€3,230 Fine: Why Ryanair Continues To Punish Unruly Passengers
Ryanair has highlighted several such cases throughout 2025, including one where it claimed €15,000 ($16,818) in civil proceedings.
How Was The Plane Allowed To Depart?
Credit: Flickr
When the bailiffs were unable to receive cash payment for the outstanding funds, they placed a cuckoo sticker, formally known as a Pfändungsmarke in Austria. This meant that the plane was formally seized, but it was not immobilized or required to exit from regular service. This sticker essentially meant that the court could proceed further in taking possession of the aircraft if the debt remained unpaid.
EC 261/2004 protects passengers with compensation for flights that depart from or within the European Union that experience delays of more than three hours. The amount of compensation that can be claimed depends on the distance and whether the delay is under the operating airline’s control. Ryanair eventually paid out the passenger the owed debts this week, and the sticker has been removed from the aircraft.