STOCKHOLM, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - The Swedish Consumer Agency (KO) said Tuesday it was taking Irish low-cost airline Ryanair to court for alleged compensation infringements.

"Ryanair does not give passengers the compensation they are entitled to when a flight is cancelled. That is why KO has now decided to take Ryanair to court," the agency said in a statement.

KO said it would represent a Swedish couple in their court case against the airline and noted that victory could secure a legal precedent.

In May 2006, the couple were booked on a flight from Brussels to Stockholm that was cancelled.

The company offered the couple another flight two days later and reimbursed them for the price of their tickets, KO said.

They received no other compensation and Ryanair did not offer to pay for their meals or hotel.

"An airline must book passengers on other airlines if they cannot offer a replacement flight. If there are no available flights, passengers must be offered meals and a hotel. Our assessment is that many consumers are affected by the fact that airlines do not follow the rules," Sweden's consumer ombudsman said in the statement.

In the case that is going to be brought before the court, the couple could not wait two days and therefore paid their own way home.

The couple has demanded that their travel costs be reimbursed by Ryanair.

A Ryanair official had a different version of the incident.

"In that case we had seats available the next day and if anyone has to stay at a hotel we naturally pay for that," Northern Europe director Wilhelm Hamilton told Swedish news agency TT.

He added that Ryanair considered that Swedish compensation rules do not follow European Union regulations.

The agency said that Swedish National Board for Consumer Complaints had on 35 occasions ordered Ryanair to pay compensation to passengers, but the airline had only acquiesced in nine of those cases.