A mum has vowed never to fly with Ryanair again after a holiday nightmare, which saw her left stranded when her flight to Gran Canaria was diverted due to a storm.
Emma Etherington and Barry Etherington were supposed to be on their first couples' holiday in more than 20 years now their son has left home to study, but arrived at their hotel a day and a half late after their flight landed in Lanzarote.
The pair were then forced to take two ferries to the popular holiday island and had to make their own way to their accommodation that they had booked as part of a package with online travel agent loveholidays.
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Emma, who works in a law firm, told Chronicle Live that Ryanair could do nothing about the weather and being unable to land in Gran Canaria, although she was angry at the lack of communication from the airline once they were "left" at the airport in Lanzarote.
She said: "It's been horrendous, I just wanted to go home this morning as I felt so poorly and stressed. But it's settled down a bit now and we're happy to stay and enjoy the rest of our holiday."
According to the Spanish airport operator AENA, flights were cancelled across the Canary Islands on Sunday September 25 as Storm Hermine moved in from over the Atlantic, bringing torrential wind and rain. The Spanish national weather agency issued a red weather alert for Gran Canaria, La Palma, and El Hierro from midday until midnight on Sunday.
By mid-afternoon, there had been 141 cancellations across the islands, including 23 from Las Palmas Airport.
However, the 6:50am Ryanair flight from Newcastle Airport went ahead, as did the 3:50pm Jet2 flight, which landed in Las Palmas an hour and 47 minutes later than scheduled. Emma was on the Ryanair flight, which after an hour of attempting to land at Las Palmas, was re-directed to Lanzarote.
Emma said: "We knew there was a storm but we went to the airport thinking everything would be fine. The pilot tried for an hour to land at Gran Canaria and it was impossible, it was so bad.
"It was horrible, really horrible. Obviously people were frightened because it was quite turbulent and we didn't know what was going on."
On arriving at Lanzarote, Emma and Barry and their fellow passengers found a Ryanair rep who told them they would have to get a bus and ferry to Fuerteventura, then another ferry from Fuerteventura to Gran Canaria. Emma says she also tried to contact Ryanair directly but said when she attempted to use their website's live chat, the response said there was no-one who "could reply at this time".
After a two-hour wait at the airport, they were put on a bus to the ferry port in Lanzarote. Emma claims that there was also passengers of a Ryanair flight from Stansted on the ferry with them, which Ryanair did not confirm when ChronicleLive put that to the airline.
Emma continued: "I tell you what, I’m never flying Ryanair again. None of this (the weather) was their fault, but had they just been there to tell us what’s going on, it would have been better - but nobody knew."
"There were people with babies and buggies and they were absolutely soaking, some people's cases were so wet that their clothes were soaking in their suitcases. We had to stand in a shelter with nobody knowing what was going on because there were no Ryanair reps to be seen anywhere."
Emma claims that once the ferry docked in Fuerteventura, there was once again no-one from Ryanair to meet the passengers - though the airline had arranged their hotel for the night - and says that if it hadn't been for a man on their flight who spoke Spanish, no-one would have known what was going on.
She said: "Luckily for us there was a guy on the boat who spoke Spanish and he spoke to the bus drivers to find out what was happening. There was a deaf couple who have no idea what's going on, a lady who knows sign language has managed to give them advice, but we've had nobody give us any kind of assistance and people were frantic."
Despite arriving at their destination more than a day and a half late, Emma and Barry aren't expecting to get any compensation back on their £1,200 (€1,343) package deal as the plane was redirected due to an act of God.
Emma continued: "I'm never flying with Ryanair again. We were literally dumped.
"Had they just been there to tell us what was going on, that would have made a difference. But nobody knew, if it hadn't been for this guy called Mario, who was with his partner, we'd never have known anything."
"It's been an absolute disaster, Ryanair need to step up to the plate here. There are so many people in a right mess."
A spokesperson from Ryanair said: "This flight from Newcastle to Gran Canaria (25 Sept) diverted to Lanzarote due to bad weather conditions which were entirely beyond Ryanair’s control. Affected passengers were notified and provided with overnight accommodation before being transported to Gran Canaria (26 Sept) when weather conditions improved the following day.
"We sincerely apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused as a result of these weather disruptions."
Ryanair were asked if the couple were entitled to any compensation, but the airline declined to comment.
A spokesperson for loveholidays, who Emma and Barry bought the holiday from, said: "We are sorry to hear Mr and Mrs Etherington’s holiday plans were disrupted by Ryanair’s flight schedule change. As soon as we were informed, we contacted their hotel and transfer providers to ensure there was no further impact and we wish them a wonderful time during the rest of their holiday."
Now that Emma and Barry have made it to Gran Canaria, they're looking forward to the rest of their holiday being a time to relax. Emma finished: "We're just going to chill because we've waited so long for it."
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