Aer Lingus refunds refugees after ordeal to bring dog here
TWO Ukrainian refugees endured a ‘nightmare’ trek by land across Europe after Aer Lingus demanded a €800 payment for their pet dog.
The women said they had been assured the dog – Mona – could travel with them for free when they paid €240 for two tickets to fly from Budapest to Dublin on March 18.
But two days before the flight, they received the demand for Mona to fly with another airline.
The pair – Lidiia and Svitlana – thought they were less than three hours’ flying time from safety. But instead they ended up on a gruelling trans-European trek by bus, train and ferry.
The odyssey began when the pair fled Odessa, in southwestern Ukraine, at the end of February, days after Russia invaded. Odessa was later hit by cruise missile attacks, including one witnessed by Lidiia’s mother, who had chosen to stay in Ukraine.
Svitlana and Lidiia’s 18-day trek across Europe began when they travelled to Moldova and stayed in a hotel that opened its doors to refugees.
The two women headed for Bucharest, Romania, where they were directed to a ‘rich family’ who were more than willing to help Ukrainians.
They next endured a 24-hour bus ride to Budapest, and stayed in another hotel, free for Ukrainian refugees.
They had paid Aer Lingus €240 for two tickets to Ireland on Friday March 18 – equivalent to a month’s wages in Ukraine.
They said they were told by an Aer Lingus agent that refugees could take a dog, so bought tickets and registered the dog on the airline’s website.
But on March 16, Lidiia received an email saying it would cost €800 to bring Mona with them to Dublin, via road and a KLM flight from Amsterdam.
So they had to take a train to Stuttgart, staying overnight and, the next morning, took a train to Paris then on to Cherbourg ferry port where they got the Stena Line.
A spokesman for Aer Lingus said: ‘Aer Lingus recognises the difficulty these customers encountered when trying to arrange travel for their pet and apologises for the inconvenience caused.
‘We have issued a full refund of the cost of their flight tickets.’