A mum says her son was left in 'floods of tears' when a passenger refused to move out of his chair after Ryanair had double booked the seat. Adri Sz says her six-year-old son was left anxious and agitated for the entirety of the flight after being forced to switch seats, with Ryanair blaming the incident on an IT error.
The mother, her son, Ryan, and husband were travelling from Budapest to Manchester on a flight on the budget airline's subsidiary, Buzz, and had booked specific seats in advance of their trip. Ryan had been checked onto a window seat as it helps to keep him calm and relaxed during the flight.
However, the family were left stunned when they learned that one of the three seats - which typically cost between £15 and £30 to book together - were being occupied by a stranger. The mother spoke to the woman sitting in her son's spot, who showed her an identical seat reservation and refused to move, reports the Mirror.
This incident prompted the flight attendants to usher Ryan to an aisle seat despite Adri trying to explain that his son did not cope well in stressful situations. She said: "Ryan was really upset and anxious and he cried."
"Ryan likes to sit next to the window. It calms him down a bit and he likes to lean his head against the wall.
"My poor child was crying. People gave him sweets and were so kind.
"He didn't understand how this could happen. We sat separately and it was really stressful.
"How can something like this happen?"
Ryanair claim the incident was due to an 'computer glitch' but insist the seat was not sold twice. The budget airline has now refunded Adri the reservation cost.
Since returning back home to Stoke-on-Trent, Adri has been pushing Ryanair for an explanation and further compensation. She claims the airline has rejected her requests and told her that the seat was given to someone else as it was by an emergency exit.
A Ryanair employee wrote to Adri: "The CAA requires that UK airlines have procedures to ensure that customers are seated where, in the event that an emergency evacuation is required, they may best assist and not hinder evacuation from the aeroplane."
"Only those customers who appear reasonably fit, strong and able to assist the rapid evacuation of the aeroplane in an emergency should be allocated seats that permit direct access to emergency exits."
Under the rules, children are not considered to be suitable passengers to sit by the exit. Adi insists the family were not sat in an emergency exit row during the flight.
Referring to the company's Polish subsidiary, a spkesperson for Ryanair said: "This Buzz passenger’s seat was not sold twice; this misunderstanding was as a result of an isolated IT glitch. Unfortunately as the flight was fully booked, there were no other window seats available.
"Buzz regrets the inconvenience caused to Ms. Bandli and her son and a member of our customer services team will contact them directly."
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