The Margin allowed itself a smile recently when it saw that Ryanair had been ordered to pay £637 to a passenger stranded in Brussels because of a mix-up over her ticket. The passenger won her claim for negligence arising from a trip to the World Cup qualifier between Ireland and Belgium. The court heard she and her travel companions were led to believe by Ryanair that her 00.30 return from Brussels was for Sunday night/Monday morning - the flight was in fact for 00.30 Saturday night/Sunday morning and the flight had left without them.

Ryanair claimed it was the passenger's fault. However, the judge said there was confusion on Ryanair's part and he believed the passenger.

The judge's name was Michael O'Leary, the same as that of the Ryanair chief executive. We know that in Ryanair, O'Leary, once dubbed Ryanair's highest paid baggage handler, has many talents, and has done many jobs in the airline, but in this case we rest assured it is purely coincidental!