Why were we stranded all night at Stansted over just one day of snow?
HUNDREDS of stranded passengers were forced to spend the night at stansted Airport after less than 3in of snow grounded flights.
Furious travellers branded ryanair and easyJet a ‘total shambles’ after they were left waiting hours just to retrieve their luggage and unable to fly again for days.
The two airlines, which cancelled more than 60 flights on Wednesday, were accused of a ‘shocking’ lack of communication after 300 passengers were left with ‘nowhere to go’. Many shared photos on social media of huge queues snaking through the airport and of families resorting to sleeping on benches. Those arriving had to wait hours to retrieve their luggage.
In total, ryanair cancelled 27 inbound and 27 outbound flights due to the weather, while easyJet cancelled eight services.
Though flights returned to normal yesterday, several passengers remained at the airport as they tried to work out what to do. Mother of two Anwschka Weabers, 37, said
‘People were sleeping in the queue’
she felt like a ‘homeless person’ after her ryanair flight back to the Netherlands with her children was cancelled.
she said: ‘I don’t have a penny in my pocket. We’re stuck here. I tried to call ryanair but they don’t pick up – I’m still on the phone, my phone bill is going to be crazy.
‘With two children it’s a nightmare. They need to have breakfast, they need to have clean clothes, we have nothing.’
several passengers railed against the lack of communication from airline staff.
Camie Gornall, 25, who queued through the night with her husband after their flight back to stockholm was cancelled, said: ‘We were sleeping in the queue. People were everywhere. There were little children lying, trying to sleep. We’ve not had any ryanair staff speaking to us.’
Others told of having to wait for hours just to pick up their baggage from the reclaim area, with airport staff resorting to putting up a hand-written poster, pleading: ‘Please be patient’.
Karina Toolan, 29, and her fiance Ted scott, 32, from London, were delayed by nearly four hours in dublin – before facing a three-hour wait for their luggage when they landed to find a baggage reclaim area packed with 1,000 angry passengers. Miss Toolan, who had spent Christmas with her family in Ireland, said: ‘The whole thing was an absolute total shambles, the arrivals area was brought to a standstill.’
Meanwhile, ryanair customers were unhappy at receiving a voucher of just £3.50 in compensation. Carol davile, 41, whose flight to Luxembourg was cancelled, said: ‘It is not enough to buy a sandwich here.’
A spokesman for stansted Airport said: ‘due to adverse weather conditions and up to 7cm of snow, the runway was temporarily closed from 9:15 to 10:05 for snow clearance.’ The airport said this had caused some delays but that any cancellations were down to airlines. It added that passengers forced to spend the night in the terminal had been supported by staff.
A spokesman for easyJet said it ‘sincerely apologised’ for cancelling a ‘small number of flights’ due to ‘snow-related runway closures’. ryanair had last night not responded to requests for comment.