Ryanair scrapped flight 30mins before take-off
Passengers forced to sleep on floor as under-fire airline pull plug on travel
A YOUNG couple told how armed police moved in as frustrated Scots passengers faced cancelled Ryanair flights chaos at Barcelona Airport.
Callum Thomson and girlfriend Lorin Hamilton slept on beach towels after the troubled airline pulled their flight home 30 minutes before take-off.
Thousands of holidaymakers are stuck at Spanish airports after Ryanair pulled the plug on flights to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Prestwick.
Last night, Callum, 23, and Lorin, 21, who were due in Prestwick on Monday, were stranded in a hotel near Girona airport.
Callum, of East Kilbride, said: “We are in the middle of nowhere and won’t get a flight until at least Saturday.
“We’ve been trying to get help but it’s non-existent. Lorin’s mum got us booked into a hotel.”
Sales worker Callum and nursery teacher Lorin flew to Barcelona from Prestwick on October 3.
Hundreds of others are in the same boat after flights were hit by a French air traffic controllers strike.
But Callum claimed passengers were “treated brutally” by checkin staff and security.
He said: “It was a case of, ‘Get out of the way – we’ll sort it in the morning’.
“Security only have so much power and all of a sudden they just wanted the police so the police ended up coming.
“It was a bit of intimidation and people started getting their phones out to record them. The police ended up walking away.
“It wasn’t right. People were asking for water from security but were being shrugged off.”
Callum added: “When we arrived at the airport, we saw a massive line at Ryanair check-ins.
“Previous flights had been cancelled but our one was listed as going ahead. We checked in.
“But they already knew we weren’t going anywhere because our bags never went through. We were at the gate then it came up as cancelled half an hour before take-off.
“We had to go back through security and pick up our luggage.”
He said tired passengers were trying to bed down where they stood, adding: “I finally got my head down about 4am and then a security guard came over and kicked my feet. He didn’t want me lying on the floor.
“When it came to the morning, it was so hectic there was no one who could help us. They said we could wait in Barcelona and get a flight at 7.10am on Saturday.
“Ryanair told us if we stayed in Barcelona, we’d have to sleep in the airport for the next four days.
“They said I could take my chance and go to Girona and wait to get a flight to Newcastle on Saturday.”
The couple took a three-hour train journey to Girona and then a taxi to their hotel because they’d no clue where they were.
A Ryanair spokeswoman said: “We apologised to customers, who were advised of their options: a full refund, free re-booking on the next available flight or free transfer on to an alternative flight. We are doing all we can to re-accommodate those affected.”