Ryanair stranded passengers on wrong canary island
21.02.10
Ryanair left a plane load of passengers stranded on the ‘wrong’ Canary Island after their flight to Lanzarote was hit by thunderstorms. The passengers also said staff did not help them to find a hotel after their diversion to Fuerteventura, or to get to their intended destination. The airline disputed the second point.
Kay Wright, from Dorset, told newspapers that she called the UK for help before spending £400 on rooms for her party of 5 - including 3 young children. Miss Wright's boyfriend, Tony Wainwright, 48, told the Bournemouth Daily Echo: ‘I don't blame Ryanair for the bad weather but to abandon a family, on the wrong island, is unforgivable. I know Ryanair is a budget airline but surely they have some duty of care to their passengers.’
Ryanair apologised for the disruption. It said that it had arranged free ferry transfers to Lanzarote the next day (when the ferry recommenced after the storm) and that it had told passengers that hotel refunds were available.
The budget airline often has limited representation at airports it flies to, so we are not surprised that it offered limited help to the passengers. That it accepted it was liable for hotels and arranged for ferry transfers is actually more than we would have expected, given past experience with the airline.
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