And they want to fly transatlantic too!!!
Ryanair is cheap and when everything goes right, the airline is hard to fault. When things go wrong however, you really, really don’t want to be relying on them to get you home as a story which appeared in The Irish Times earlier this week proves. Hundreds of passengers were left stranded in northern Spain after their plane was diverted to a different airport. The flight from Vitoria to Dublin was then cancelled due to heavy fog and their plane was diverted a couple of hundred kilometres west to Santander before returning home to Dublin passengerless. Bad weather can mess up flight schedules and is outside the control of airlines but the manner in which the passengers were subsequently treated by Ryanair staff is absolutely outrageous. And the very thought of using the airline to cross the Atlantic fills me with dread. No matter how cheap they claim they will be able to sell tickets for.
From The Irish Times
“Passenger Séamus Fingleton told The Irish Times they were offered flights from Girona yesterday evening, 36 hours after their scheduled departure and six hours’ by road, or Madrid this evening, 60 hours after their scheduled departure and four hours by road.
Mr Fingleton said passengers were told they had to make their own way to these airports. “When I asked how to get to either, I was told that I could drive. There were no car hire companies open in Vitoria.”
Passengers queued for four hours to get this information and were not provided with refreshments or assistance, he said.
Ryanair apologised to passengers but said the safety of crew and passengers was its main priority. A spokesman said the flight was diverted due to unsafe weather conditions and passengers on the inbound flight were bussed from Santander to Vitoria.
“It was not possible to bus passengers from Vitoria to Santander for the return flight. The aircraft was forced to return empty to Dublin because the crew would have exceeded their safe flying limits for the day had they waited for the Vitoria passengers. Flight FR 7153 was cancelled as a result.
“All passengers were offered transfer via the next available flight from Vitoria or a transfer via an alternative Ryanair airport or a full refund. The majority of passengers returned home yesterday and today via Vitoria, Madrid, Biarritz, Reus and Girona airports.” Mr Fingleton said he got a taxi to Bilbao and flew to Barcelona, where he spent the night before flying with a different airline to Dublin, all at his own expense.”
I was not surprised to read the comments regarding Ryan Air from Conor. I must say I agree that when things go right for Ryan Air it is great. However I feel Mr. O’Leary should review his policy of not allowing families with children to board first. I do not know of any other Airlines who adopt this policy. Also, there is no information about this change when you book on line so many families are left to join the long queues, which is not very easy when you have babies and toddlers to cope with.Finding seats when they get on the plane can be a nightmare. I am 70 years of age, so too old in the tooth to have this problem, but I do feel so sorry for all the young Mums and Dads I have seen on flights to Ireland who have to cope with this change of policy. Of course they could, if they knew, buy PRIORTY TICKETS at the cost of £3.00. pounds, if they knew about it. I am sure Mr. Michael O’Leary could afford to waiver this cost now that he is about to earn more than £100 million this year from the extra charges he is imposing on his passengers. (Telegraph April 7.)
Comment by Noeleen Burke | April 17, 2007 at 9:43 pmthe very idea of being cooped up on a Ryanair flight for 7 hours while being bombarded by advertising (visual and audio) and then not being confident of getting home again brings me out in a cold sweat. I don’t care how low Ryanair goes, I won’t be stooping for a “bargain”
Comment by that girl | April 21, 2007 at 3:50 pmOver the last few years I have flown regurlarly with Ryanair. The longest delay I have experienced has been 20 minutes and they have never lost my luggage. I have even found the staff helpful and generally good humoured which is more then can be said for some of the passengers I have witnessed abusing Ryanair staff when they have not turned up on time or overloaded their luggage despite ample warnings.
I usually travel with excess luggage but read the fine print and realise that I will be charged. Even then I have often been charged less then I expected.
I traveled on a one way flight to Biarritz last year for €20 including taxes and charges which was €12 less then the taxi ride to the airport. You can’t beat that for value
I take the precaution of allowing a reasonable time between connecting flights and going to the airport in plenty of time. By doing this I have avoided any problems.
Travelling with any airline can be a source of problems. I have had many delays with other more “respectable” airlines. I once witnessed a situation where a well known airline told it passengers that the London-Shannon flight was going to be delayed for 4 hours. Many passengers returned to the main terminal for food etc. The airline then announced that the flight would only be delayed for 1 hour and the flight eventually took of without 14 passengers who were left stranded in London. I don’t recall that one being reported.
Comment by Michael Slattery | August 13, 2007 at 4:04 amBe filled with dread. There are always other options. I choose to keep as much money in my pocket as I can. I consider all reasonable options.
Comment by Matthew Murphy | November 1, 2007 at 9:15 pm