Europe's biggest budget airline cancels 2,000 flights, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers.

The cost of purchasing cheap tickets on low-cost airlines has proven costly for hundreds of thousands of passengers.

Ryanair, Europe's biggest budget airline, recently cancelled some 2000 flights.

The company says the decision was made because of a scheduling blunder among its pilots and cabin crew.

That decision sparked immediate outrage from frustrated passengers.

Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary, was forced to apologise, saying the airline "messed up".

To make matters worse, travel insurance companies told many of the travellers that hotel and car rental cancellations will not be covered.

The flight cancellations are expected to last until the end of October.

So, what can passengers do to protect their rights?

Presenter: Peter Dobbie

Guests:

Simon Calder - Travel editor of The Independent

Terry Tozer - A former airline pilot

Gabor Lukacs - Air passenger rights advocate

Source: Al Jazeera News