SCOTLAND's Ryanair customers will not be refunded for flights in November despite the UK government banning all but essential travel in England as part of a second lockdown.
Michael O'Leary said if a flight was operating, passengers would not get their money back but they could change to a later flight without paying a fee.
From Thursday, all but essential travel will be banned under the second lockdown announced by Boris Johnson for England.
Mr O'Leary said "If a flight is operating then no, we will not be offering refunds.
"But what customers can avail of is our change facility and we've waived the change fee so if they have booking in November they can change it and move it to December or January if needs be. But there won't be refunds on flights that are operating and travelling."
Ryanair confirmed that the position applies to Scotland, even though it is not affected by the Prime Minister's latest stringent lockdown.
Scotland's first minister said on Monday that she faces a "dilemma" over whether a national lockdown should be introduced in the coming days.
Nicola Sturgeon said she was seeking "absolute clarity" from the Treasury as to whether financial support was only available while England is locked down.
A new five-level system of measures came into force in Scotland on Monday.
Ryanair has paid out £1.35bn in cash refunds or vouchers for cancelled flights since the Covid-19 outbreak in Europe in the spring and said it had almost cleared the backlog.
It said that the first lockdown and subsequent restrictions had resulted in an 80% drop in passenger numbers.
Rory Boland, the travel editor of the consumer group Which?, said: “While Ryanair has recently made some improvements, we still get more complaints about its handling of refunds than any other airline, including from a steady stream of passengers still struggling to get their money back.
“Trust in travel has taken a battering during the pandemic and questionable claims about an airline’s performance on refunds are hardly going to help matters. Ryanair now risks adding insult to injury by refusing to refund passengers who can not fly this month because of the latest lockdown. The airline is only offering fee-free transfers to a later flight.
"Some airlines have consistently broken the rules and ignored warnings from the regulator which, without the ability to issue fines or take swift action, has been unable to enforce the law. The government must urgently review the CAA's powers as part of its aviation recovery plan, to ensure airlines do not feel empowered to brazenly break consumer law again in the future." The new lockdown measures for England to stop the spread of the coronavirus were announced on Saturday and are expected to come into force on November 5 after a House of Commons vote on Wednesday.
They will remain in place until at least December 2, although Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said restrictions could extend beyond that date.
The law entitles consumers to compensation but only if a flight is actually cancelled.
So the only option for people booked to fly with Ryanair on a holiday during that period is to try and reschedule their booking to a Ryanair flight after 2 December.
Mr O'Leary also said that Ryanair had paid out all refunds to customers who had requested one following disruption to flights earlier this year.
"We have refunded every single customer who has requested a refund… from March, April, May, June and July.
"Every customer who has requested a cash refund from Ryanair has now received it."
Mr O'Leary's comments came as Europe's biggest airline said the first lockdown and subsequent restrictions had resulted in an 80% drop in passenger numbers.
It said 17.1 million people travelled on the airline in the six months to September, compared with 85.7 million last year.
The carrier reported a €196.5m (£174m) loss for the period compared with a €1.15bn profit last year.
But it warned the situation was likely to worsen, saying it "will continue to be a hugely challenging year for Ryanair".
Mr O'Leary criticised the lockdowns as “completely ineffective” and said they reflected government failures in dealing with the pandemic, such as inadequate testing.
Last month Ryanair cut the number of winter flights, until March, to 40% of normal levels because of Covid-19 air travel restrictions.
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