Couple f lying from Spain to UK forced to take 2,800-mile, four-day detour (by Ryanair, of course)
IT should have taken them less than three hours to get home.
But after a couple’s flight from Majorca was cancelled by Ryanair, it instead took them four days – and a 2,800-mile detour – to get back to Britain.
The airline sent Samantha Breen and her partner Alexander Rutherford on a 4,000-mile trip via the Canary Islands after their initial flight from Palma to Newcastle was cancelled.
The ‘disgusted’ couple’s nightmare began on Tuesday October 10 as they prepared to head home after a holiday to celebrate Miss Breen’s 30th birthday.
Upon arrival at the airport they were informed their direct flight to Newcastle had been cancelled because of a strike by air traffic controllers in France.
After joining a six-hour-long queue of other affected passengers, they were told that the next Ryanair flight they could get off the Spanish island was on October 13.
But instead of being given a direct flight home, the couple were informed they would have to fly to Madrid, then Lanzarote – just off the coast of West Africa – before finally heading back to
‘We were totally fobbed off’
Britain. The situation was made worse by the fact the couple’s young children were back at home.
But Miss Breen said they could not afford to book a quicker trip home with another airline because prices had rocketed to £600 per flight, and they had barely enough money left for food.
After agreeing to travel on the delayed flight, the couple were offered a place in a hotel by the airline, with Miss Breen claiming they were promised that food and drink would be included.
However, this turned out not to be the case.
After three days stuck in the hotel, they boarded the flight to Madrid, before travelling on another jet to Lanzarote later that day.
They landed after the airport had shut – forcing them to sleep outside overnight until a fourth flight finally took them home last Saturday.
While their direct flight would have been just 1,200 miles – taking approximately two hours and 50 minutes – they were eventually taken 4,000 miles.
Miss Breen, from Thornaby, North Yorkshire, said they had been ‘totally fobbed off by Ryanair’, and that she has been left ‘disgusted’.
‘I enjoyed my birthday – but then the flight was cancelled from Majorca,’ she said. ‘We were stood in a queue at the airport for six hours. We asked for food vouchers but they said we weren’t allowed any.
‘We were given a replacement hotel and were told we would have breakfast there. We were told everything would be included.’
Describing the next leg of their journey, Miss Breen, whose 43year-old partner works in gas distribution, said: ‘We had a six-hour wait in Lanzarote and the airport was closed, so we slept outside.
‘The kids were missing us and asking when we were coming home. I’m just disgusted with Ryanair. They have a duty of care for us. If they are going to put us in a hotel surely there should be food included.
‘I asked if we could have some refreshments and we got one bottle of water each. We had about 20 euros left.’
A Ryanair spokesman said: ‘This flight from Palma to Newcastle was cancelled due to a French air traffic controllers’ strike over 16 hours before the scheduled departure. Customers were sent text messages and emails, again over 16 hours before departure, advising them of this cancellation and of their options.
‘The customers were provided with accommodation in Palma and were rerouted back to Newcastle via Madrid and Lanzarote.
‘The customers were advised to keep and submit vouched receipted expenses and a cheque of € 124.17 (£ 111.51) has been authorised.
‘We apologise sincerely for this flight cancellation which was caused by a French ATC strike.’