A FAMILY has been left distraught after they missed their flight – but it wasn’t their fault.
A father along with his family including his severely disabled teenage daughter has claimed that they were abandoned by budget airline Ryanair.
Daniel Laws, from Bournemouth commented that Ryanair told them to make their own way home after waiting in the wrong airport for hours, adding that the treatment from the airline’s staff was “abominable”.
When at Alicante Airport, the special assistance bus took the family to the wrong plane and resulted in them missing their flight back to Bournemouth.
According to the Bournemouth Echo, Daniel said: “I said to them this is the wrong plane, this is a TUI plane.”
However, by the time the family were back at the terminal, their plane had left without them.
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The family was then taken to the Ryanair help desk, where they were left “sitting on the floor for two hours”.
After waiting for a few hours, the family was then told they could be rebooked onto a flight that would head to Stansted Airport.
He added: “I responded would they also be able to help us get back to Bournemouth and they seemed to laugh at that and walk away from the window.”
After landing back in London, the family headed to the Ryanair desk at the airport to seek further assistance to travel back to Bournemouth.
After an hour of waiting passed, the staff hadn’t spoke to the family and when they eventually did, they told the family that “Ryanair believe it has nothing to do with them and we must organise our own way home”.
To make matters worse, the family hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
Daniel added: “We were abandoned in Stanstead and none of us had eaten.”
The family eventually travelled home via train, but have stated that they want a refund for the flights and all expenses incurred.
He added: “It was a life changing event for them [the children]….they were so worried about my eldest.”
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “Special assistance services at Alicante Airport (and all other airports) are provided by the airport but are paid for by Ryanair.
“We regret that Alicante Airport’s special assistance provider, Alyzia, failed to bring these passengers to the aircraft prior to this flight from Alicante to Bournemouth departing on 31 July.
“Following Alyzia’s error, Ryanair reaccommodated these passengers free of charge onto the next available flight from Alicante to Stansted, which departed later that the same day.
“We are working with Alicante Airport to ensure this does not recur.”