Furious Aer Lingus passengers lashed out after they were told their flights would go ahead – only for them to be cancelled when they got through security.
Similar horror stories were revealed yesterday following the weekend chaos at Dublin Airport while the airline tried to return to uninterrupted scheduling.
A systems outage on Saturday caused the cancellation of 52 Aer Lingus flights in and out of Dublin Airport for destinations in Europe and the UK.
Read More: The Queen's funeral mourners list - Irish reps and those who make the cut
Aer Lingus pledged on Monday to return to a full schedule - but the weekend disruption continues for thousands of passengers.
Stranded travellers and disappointed holidaymakers unleashed their frustrations online and on RTE Radio 1’s Liveline show.
Newly married Emmet Byrne was flying to Miami on Saturday to join a once-in-a-lifetime €5,000 honeymoon cruise and now fears he will lose that money.
He arrived at Dublin Airport at 6.45am and was told nearly 10 hours later at 4.30pm that the flight was cancelled.
Emmet said: “We were initially told there was a slight IT glitch.
“That was the last thing we heard until they said, ‘Look, you have to go home now, your flight’s cancelled’. We’ve missed the cruise and we don’t know if we’re going to get our money back. It cost €5,000. We’re heartbroken.”
Michelle Gavin, whose Aer Lingus flight from Corfu to Dublin was cancelled but got home with another airline via Germany, said: “When we arrived into Dublin Airport, oh my God, the chaos was unbelievable.”
Passengers waited half an hour for steps to disembark, plus another two-and-a-half hours for luggage, while some had to leave for connecting flights, despite tannoy announcements telling people not to leave without their bags.
Michelle said: “It was absolutely packed. Talk about Covid, there were people everywhere and luggage was all over the place.”
Several Liveline callers revealed the ongoing luggage problems after arriving at Dublin Airport, with some passengers revealing that they have waited several weeks.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald TD arrived back into Dublin Airport from San Francisco on Sunday and reported delays of at least two hours for her luggage.
Aer Lingus vowed to get its flights back on track.
A spokesperson told the Irish Mirror on Monday: “We plan to operate as scheduled today and going forward.”
Flyers also received an apology from Aer Lingus chiefs who acknowledged the difficulties experienced by thousands of customers.
The problem emerged at 9am on Saturday and by 2pm, Aer Lingus announced that all flights in and out of Dublin Airport involving destinations in Europe and the UK had to be cancelled.
Long queues of fed-up travellers formed inside and outside Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport as Aer Lingus attempted to check-in flights manually.
Throngs of passengers, including stranded tour groups and disappointed holidaymakers, then complained of having their plans axed and of being stranded and then not being able to reach the airline’s customer service teams.
One woman who managed to get through on the helpline complained that the phone agent was in the Philippines and did not know where Dublin is in the world.
In a statement to the Irish Mirror, the Aer Lingus spokesperson said: “Aer Lingus sincerely apologises to customers for the severe disruption caused on Saturday by the unavailability of our key systems for check-in, boarding and our website.
“This system outage was caused by a break in connectivity in services from a UK network provider.
“All of our systems were restored on Saturday evening, enabling Aer Lingus to operate the vast majority of services on Sunday and we expect to operate our full schedule [from September 12].
“Customers impacted by Saturday’s disruption are being contacted and where possible rebooked onto the next available Aer Lingus flight.
“We have also added additional capacity and services on a number of our European routes to accommodate customers impacted by the disruption.
“Customers who wish to apply for a refund or change their travel plans, can do so free of charge through aerlingus.com, our social media channels or via our call centres.
“We have increased the number of our call centre agents available to support our customers. However due to the level of disruption, call wait times may be longer.
“Hotel accommodation has been offered to our customers at most airports.
“Customers who secured their own accommodation will be reimbursed accordingly.
“Once again Aer Lingus sincerely apologises for the severe disruption caused and we are doing all we can to re-accommodate disrupted customers as efficiently as possible.”
The airline’s IT problem was unprecedented, according to Aer Lingus Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Donal Moriarty.
He described it as “unique” and revealed that the airline has taken measures to prevent it happening again, although a repeat could not be ruled out.
The cancellations related to flights connected to Dublin Airport, while all Aer Lingus services from Cork Airport and Shannon Airport were not massively affected, although some experienced delays.
Dublin Airport Authority confirmed that no other airline experienced the technical difficulties that affected Aer Lingus.
READ NEXT:
Daniel Kinahan flees Dubai bolthole as net closes in on criminal organisation
Gardai probe whether car fire which killed two siblings was started deliberately
Mary Lou McDonald not impressed after getting caught in airport chaos
Experts say common washing machine mistake is costing you money
Lucky Kildare punter wins €80,000 in Irish Lotto without buying a ticket
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
