Ryanair passengers furious after flight leaves them behind at airport
‘I don’t understand how it could have happened,’ says traveller
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A group of Ryanair passengers were in disbelief after the airline appeared to forget about them on Saturday, leaving them behind at the airport.
The 14 travellers were abandoned at Palma airport in Mallorca on 30 April, despite the fact they had checked in and arrived at the gate on time to board flight FR5729 to Malaga.
The mistake occurred when airport ground crew put passengers on airport shuttles to reach the aircraft, reports Balearic Islands newspaper Ultima Hora.
There was no room on the final bus, so the last group of travellers was told to wait for another shuttle.
However, the bus never returned – and in the meantime, the passengers were horrorstruck to realise the plane had taken off without them.
“I don’t understand how it could have happened,” said one.
“We have passed the QR code at the security check. In the system it should appear that we were on land.”
Although the airline accommodated the abandoned customers on a flight at 10pm the same day, some had missed onward connections in the meantime, while one woman was flying to Malaga for cancer treatment.
Susana Guerrero said she was anxious about missing her chemo session.
Speaking to Ultima Hora, she said: “At this point and after all this, I still don’t know if I’m going to spend the night at the airport or if they’ll let me go home.”
Passengers were given a voucher for €4 by Ryanair to spend at the airport.
A Ryanair spokesperson told The Independent that the mistake had been made by the airport’s ground crew.
“The airport handler who operates the airport shuttle bus at Palma De Mallorca failed to collect this small group of passengers awaiting their bus at the airport gate to bring them to their plane, causing them to miss their flight to Malaga (30 Apr),” they said.
“Affected passengers received refreshment vouchers and were reaccommodated on a later flight, with one passenger opting for a refund. Ryanair apologises sincerely to passengers for this inconvenience.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments