Flight time has been changed - Ryanair refuses to cancel

Question

I have received today an email that my flight time has been changed from 10:50 to 12:15. Even if it is 1 hour and 25 minutes I wanted to cancel my flight (Flight is only about 1 hour). The airline (in this case Ryanair) gave me only two options:

1. Confirm the change that is made by them.

2. I can reschedule the flight.

They have refused to cancel my flight. They are arguing that the change in the flight is less than 2 hours and they cannot cancel the flight for free of cost. So what are options I have in this case? Is there is any EU law which disclaim the ryanair argument?

Answer 1

Under Regulation 261/2004, you're only entitled to a refund if the delay exceeds five hours:

Article 6

Delay

1. When an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure:

…

passengers shall be offered by the operating air carrier:

…

(iii) when the delay is at least five hours, the assistance specified in Article 8(1)(a).

(Article 8(1)(a) is a refund.)

Of course, the airline is free to offer other options on top of what the regulation requires to keep a customer happy, but IMHO it's pretty unlikely they would let you cancel for free just because of such a small change (comparable with ordinary operating delays).