An OAP couple were left bemused after their flight took off without them, despite arriving at the dedicated gate in plenty time.
Margaret and John Harrop arrived at Newcastle Airport for their flight to Alicante on September 28, although they weren't onboard when it took off. The retired couple were due to jet off to visit their son for the first time since he moved overseas.
However, their plans were thrown into despair as they, and seven others, watched on as their flight took off, despite being within a special assistance vehicle just "yards away," reports Chronicles Live. The pair also said they witnessed their cases being removed form the flight before it took off.
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Margaret and John, from Kenton, arrived at the airport well in advance of their 11am flight, getting to the terminal at 8:20am, dropping their cases and heading through security without any issues. They went to special assistance and were told to be at Gate 19 for 10am, saying that they arrived 20 minutes before.
They were then taken to board the plane and were waiting on a special assistance lift "ten or 20 yards" from the plane. Despite this, they weren't able to board, an error which Ryanair put down to the special assistance provider's failure to "fulfil their responsibility to these passengers causing them to miss their flight."
"We got one of these shuttle lifts that raises you up and puts you in the plane if you're disabled, and we could see people getting onto the other side of the plane," said John.
"We couldn't see their faces, but then we started to see one or two bags being taken off and Margaret said to me, 'that's our bag.' I said, it can't be.
"We were standing there for about 25 minutes and then all of a sudden, the plane started to move and Margaret said that plane's moving, and I said of course it wasn't we're not on it yet! But it was.
"The bloke in charge of the shuttle was mumbling and he said there's been an issue, but he wouldn't say any more."
Margaret and John were then taken back to the main terminal where they were made to wait in order to get answers. The seven passengers who missed the flight were then promised a seat on the next available flight the following morning. They were also offered the chance to stay at a hotel at the airport overnight.
Margaret, 76, said: "It was a bit of a nightmare, we don't really know whose fault it was because we never got to know. We still don't know the full story.
"I knew my son and his partner were over there waiting for us, it's a while since we've seen them so it was very disappointing, especially having to come back to the horrible weather on Wednesday afternoon. It was so, so annoying and we were disappointed not only because we didn't get there on Wednesday, but because nobody informed us about anything.
"All my medication was in the case and I didn't know whether it was on the plane or not - I've got it now, but nobody told us anything. We were there in loads of time, everybody was. We were just sitting in the departure lounge until they came for us - it wasn't any of our faults because we were already there.
"It just shouldn't have happened, if it'd been the other way and I had been able to just been able to walk up the stairs, I would have been on my holidays."
A spokesperson from Newcastle Airport said: "Following investigation, we can confirm that seven passengers that were assisted with their journey through the airport were unable to travel. The passengers arrived at the aircraft in advance of the scheduled departure time but were not permitted to board the aircraft.
"Newcastle Airport assisted all customers affected by ensuring they departed on the next available flight."
A spokesperson from Ryanair said: "Special assistance at Newcastle Airport is provided by a third party - not by Ryanair. We are disappointed that the third party provider at Newcastle Airport failed to fulfil their responsibility to these passengers causing them to miss their flight."
Ryanair declined to answer ChronicleLive's enquiries on why the plane did not wait for those on the special assistance vehicle and why Mr and Mrs Harrop's luggage was removed from the plane.
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