Dozens of Ryanair passengers faced a long journey home from Fuerteventura to Dublin after capacity on their flight was reduced.
According to passengers, 38 people were unable to board the Thursday morning flight due to a member of cabin crew becoming unwell. These passengers reported difficulty in getting back to Dublin due to a lack of communication from the airline.
Paul Butler had already boarded the flight and said he heard the captain say 'there’s 150 people on, I think that’s all I can take'. He told RTE Liveline on Friday that himself and his wife Rita voluntarily gave up their seats so a family with a special needs child could travel home together.
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He said: “So, we went into the terminal, and I think it was about 30 people in total who weren’t allowed on the flight. Eventually 12 of us were put on a flight to Edinburgh.
"We all got to Edinburgh assuming everything would be grand. When we got there, there was only a Ryanair electronic bag drop there. There was nobody there, no facilities or Ryanair service desk.
"So the people in Edinburgh airport helped us as much as they could but they couldn't do anything. The number that (Ryanair) gave us, they tried to ring but there was no answer."
Mr Butler said he looked at booking a flight for them to Dublin, but it would have cost £373, not including luggage. "We assumed when we got to Edinburgh, after everything we did with getting the flight off voluntarily, that we'd be looked after but there was nothing," he said.
A representative from Edinburgh Airport managed to book them on a flight to Dublin for Friday afternoon, so Paul and his wife booked a hotel for the night. Speaking from Edinburgh Airport, Mr Butler added that they had not heard “a sniff” from Ryanair.
Rachel Gorry and her 12-year-old cousin were among those who made it on the Edinburgh flight. She told Joe Duffy that her grandad had to pay €500 to get the pair of them home to Dublin.
The 23-year-old said: "I had no idea what was happening. We got to the gate at 10:20am, it was supposed to close at 10:30am. A woman ended up coming over and told me to make sure the staff sees that I'm with a child, because they're letting children on.
"Everyone thought that they were overbooked. We were brought to the front of the line but at this stage it was full and we found out we weren't getting on the flight.
"Thankfully, everyone else who was in the same predicament were so helpful. There was a lovely couple in Fuerteventura that were making sure that me and my cousin were getting on the flight to Edinburgh, when we found out there was one.
"They got us on that. Then Paul and Rita helped us when we were in Edinburgh making sure we were okay. At this stage, I was on the phone to my family, once we found out that Ryanair weren't answering us. It was very stressful. I didn't get home until 11pm last night."
Meanwhile, at the time of Friday's Liveline show, a group of nine people were still in Lanzarote, where they are waiting for a flight to Barcelona and then another to Dublin.
Stephen Daly was among those passengers and he told Joe Duffy that when they got off the ferry from Fuerteventura, the taxis they had been promised were not there to pick them up. He was also concerned that Ryanair would only pay for one night’s accommodation there and not for the hotel in Barcelona.
A Ryanair spokeswoman told Dublin Live that the airline apologises to all affected passengers for the inconvenience and said that any passengers who incurred additional expenses can claim these back on their website.
She said: "A member of our cabin crew became ill shortly before the departure of this Fuerteventura to Dublin flight (18 Aug) and was therefore unable to perform their duties. Due to strict safety procedures, the flight had to operate with reduced passenger numbers and a small number of passengers were offloaded before the flight departed safely to Dublin.
"The affected passengers were offered the option of an overnight hotel in Fuerteventura or an alternative flight. Ryanair provides overnight accommodation for passengers affected by overnight delays and any passengers who organise their own accommodation or incur additional expenses can claim these back on Ryanair.com. We apologise sincerely to all affected passengers for this inconvenience."
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