RYANAIR PASSENGERS HAVE complained they were left with little instruction from the airline after their flight was forced to land at a different Canary island than planned due to bad weather.
It eventually lead to some having to pay for their own transport off the island after boarding the wrong ferry.
More than 140 passengers were flying from Dublin to Lanzarote on Saturday morning when thunderstorms forced the pilot to divert to the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura.
After being told by the pilot they would be able to get a ferry to Lanzarote, the group disembarked the plane and waited at the terminal for their bags.
‘Herded’
However, no instruction was given on what to do next until they were ‘herded’ on to buses organised by the airline to bring them to the ferry port. Some grew frustrated with the wait and arranged for their own taxis.
When the first group arrived, they were told that no tickets had been reserved, meaning many bought them at their own expense.
One passenger on the flight, Max Kyck told TheJournal.ie: ”We were told to disembark [the plane] and get our bags and to go to the Ryanair desk for tickets.
We waited about 30 minutes for our bags. Then a young Spanish girl tried to herd all 144 of us outside to wait for buses. She didn’t know what the situation was with ferry tickets, or what time the ferry was leaving.
Kyck said he was lucky enough to get on the first bus to the port, but others got taxis costing more than €40.
“When we got to the port shortly after 1pm there was nobody from Ryanair and nobody at the port knew anything about our tickets,” he continued, “We waited a while and then bought tickets – €47 for two.”
Once they arrived at Lanzarote, the group again had to arrange for their own transport from the port.
The diversion ended up adding hours to the passengers’ trip.
A spokesperson for Ryanair apologised for the diversion, and explained that a ferry had been arranged, but some passengers arrived too early or went to the wrong ferry company.
Customers are asked to submit receipted travel expenses for reimbursement.
“Ryanair sincerely apologises to all customers affected by this weather diversion,” he said.
Another passenger, who declined to be named, criticised the lack of communication from Ryanair during the incident.
“Someone might have turned up later but there was no one around,” he said.
All passengers were emailed a PDF yesterday morning explaining the terms and conditions of flights which are delayed or diverted.
“[The PDF] is not very straight-forward, most of us have found it to be gobbledygook,” the passenger continued. “And also when you’re on holiday you might not want to check your emails due to data roaming charges.
“But look, we’re here now, and it’s sunny.”
The Daily Mail reports that passengers landing on the same island in 2010 were left without guidance on how to get to Lanzarote.
In this incident, ferry crossings were cancelled, meaning some passengers had to arrange for overnight stays in hotels.
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