A group of 24 passengers watched in disbelief as their plane took off after spending over an hour navigating airport security delays at Tours Airport in France
Ryanair passengers were stunned when their plane left without them (stock)(Image: turbo83 via Getty Images)
Ryanair passengers were left stunned when they glanced out the window after enduring 90 minutes queuing through security. A group of 24 travellers watched in complete disbelief as the aircraft they were supposed to be boarding departed without them whilst they remained stranded in the terminal.
The service, departing from Tours Airport in France, was scheduled to fly to Marrakech in Morocco at 12.15pm on Wednesday, 11 March. With just 15 minutes remaining before departure, the pilot took the decision to shut the doors and proceed as planned, leaving a quarter of his passengers behind.
According to Ici, the pilot instructed that the passengers’ luggage be offloaded from the aircraft in order to keep to his timetable. And whilst he acknowledges the carrier is perfectly entitled to take such action, French holidaymaker Maxime says he was left absolutely astonished when he discovered what had occurred.
The 37-yea-old maintains he turned up at the airport nearly two hours ahead of his scheduled take-off time. He said: “It’s a completely crazy situation.
“Going through customs and security took ages. We spent over an hour and a half there. At one point, we realised the pilot had decided to take off without us, knowing that our suitcases were already on the Ryanair plane.”
Maxime claims his baggage stayed on the tarmac as the aircraft departed at 12.57pm, 42 minutes beyond its scheduled take-off. He branded it a “completely absurd situation”.
Louis Chaumont, director of Tours Airport, described the circumstances as “regrettable”. He clarified that pilots are permitted to depart during their allocated take-off slot to prevent having to wait for another to become available.
He indicated this was one of three key factors that resulted in the passengers missing their flight. He stated: “The first was an unannounced inspection by the gendarmerie brigade across the entire airport. The second is the introduction of a new measure, the ESS (Entry/Exit System).
“This is a measure introduced by the EU which requires customs checks on all passengers entering and leaving the Schengen area, so passengers travelling to Marrakech are affected.
“Previously, the screening rate was 10%, and it takes time to implement this measure, which takes three to four minutes per passenger. Added to this is the third factor: the pilot of this flight had a designated take-off slot. If he doesn’t comply, he has no idea when he’ll be able to get another one to fly. So he’s perfectly within his rights to close the doors of his plane and take his slot.”
Whilst the director stopped short of promising full refunds for passengers, he confirmed compensation claims will be evaluated individually. He indicated the airport “will investigate what happened and determine who is responsible.”
In a statement to French media outlets, Ryanair maintained its policy is to guarantee a “punctual departure”. The airline asserted the delays within the airport were “entirely beyond our control”.
A spokesman informed ICI: “Had these passengers arrived on time, they would have boarded this Tours–Marrakech flight alongside the 155 other passengers who arrived at the gate on time. We regret that these delays, caused by security checks at Tours Val de Loire Airport-which are entirely beyond our control-resulted in some passengers missing this flight.”