Turkey holidays

Ryanair passengers checking in luggage will have less time to reach the airport desk under a new deadline

Anyone travelling with Ryanair who leave their airport journey until the last minute could risk missing their flight when a new rule takes effect. From Tuesday, November 10, airport check-in and bag-drop desks will close 60 minutes before departure, instead of the current 40 minutes.

The change means travellers checking in a suitcase will need to get their bags accepted earlier than they may be used to, even if they have already checked in online. For a flight scheduled to leave at 10am, the deadline will move from 9.20am to 9am. Ryanair carried 206.5 million passengers in the 2025 calendar year.

Travel expert Arber Abdullahu, from TripSIM, has urged holidaymakers to check their airport arrangements before setting off, particularly if they have booked a transfer. He warned that having a boarding pass on a phone does not mean a checked bag has been accepted or that passengers can arrive at the desk whenever they like.

“Checking in online can make you feel that everything is sorted. But if you’re taking a suitcase that needs to go in the hold, you still have a separate deadline to meet at the airport,” he said.

Getting to the airport and reaching the correct desk are not necessarily the same thing, as travellers may need to park, take a shuttle, find their terminal and queue. Anyone relying on a transfer that arrives shortly before the cut-off should review the timings rather than treating the deadline as their target arrival time.

The change could also catch people out on their return journey if they are away when the new rule begins. Someone flying out before November 10 but returning on or after that date should check the deadline for both legs and make sure their hotel pick-up leaves enough time to reach the airport.

“Don’t assume the routine that worked on your outbound flight will work for your return. Check your hotel pick-up time and tell the transfer provider which flight you are taking,” Mr Abdullahu said.

Ryanair says the earlier cut-off is intended to give passengers more time to get through airport security and passport-control queues before reaching their departure gate. The airline says around 20 per cent of its passengers check in a bag, while those who check in online and travel without checked luggage will be unaffected by the bag-drop change.

Passengers should remember that online check-in has a separate deadline and remains open until two hours before departure. Anyone using airport check-in or bag drop should check the latest instructions for their flight and allow enough time to complete each stage of the journey.

Amanda Cannon was taken ill while on holiday with her daughter

A British nan is fighting for her life in Turkey after suffering a heart attack while on holiday as her family faces a £25,000 hospital bill.

Amanda Cannon, 58, was rushed to intensive care after collapsing during a trip with her daughter Marisa White on October 10. The grandmother-of-nine from Redhill, Surrey, reportedly went without oxygen for 10 minutes after suffering what doctors believe was an epileptic seizure and cardiac arrest.

She is currently on life support in a private hospital in Antalya, Turkey. Relatives say her treatment is costing around €3,500 (£3,000) a day, with the bill already reaching €30,000 (£25,000).

Hannah Cooper, the mum of Amanda’s grandchildren, flew to Turkey with her five-year-old daughter after receiving a distressing call from Marisa. She said Amanda suddenly “jolted backwards”, turned blue and stopped breathing. Marisa immediately began CPR before paramedics arrived and took over.

No travel insurance

But because she has no travel insurance, her former daughter-in-law Hannah said Turkish medics would not stop treatment for religious reasons. They fear the mounting costs could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds if her condition does not improve.

Hannah, 33, from Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, told Talk to the Press: “She’s now in a deep coma. She’s got kidney failure, liver failure. They said there’s a 20 per cent chance that she’ll wake up and if she does, she’ll be in a vegetative state.”

She added: “I got a phone call from her daughter saying that she just suddenly jolted backwards, went grey, purple, blue, started foaming from the mouth and stopped breathing. Her daughter gave her CPR. Then when the ambulance got there, they took over. She went without oxygen for about 10 minutes.”

Doctors later told the family Amanda had suffered what appeared to be a seizure as well as a heart attack. She was placed on life support and remains in coma.

Amanda travelled to Turkey with daughter Marisa, who Hannah said suffered from many severe physical and mental health conditions. Concerned she would struggle to deal with the crisis alone, Hannah booked flights and travelled out to support her.

She said: “She doesn’t have the mental capacity to cope with what’s going on. The language barrier is so hard. We have to keep going on Google Translate to speak to the doctor because he doesn’t understand us and we don’t understand him.”

Medical costs stacking up

As the family tried to come to terms with Amanda’s condition, they were shocked to learn of the mounting medical costs. Hannah said she received a phone call asking for £5,000 shortly after Amanda was admitted.

She said: “I said to them that I don’t have £5,000, but I’d be flying over to Turkey. Since then, I’ve had several emails asking for payment.”

Hannah later discovered Amanda’s stay in the private intensive care unit was costing around €3,500 every day. She also revealed that the hospital wouldn’t release her to a public one until they cleared half of the bill.

Hannah said: “I’ve asked for a transfer to a state hospital where it would still cost money, but not like this.”

The family launched a GoFundMe appeal with an initial target of £15,000, but now fear the total bill could be far higher. Despite no longer being with Amanda’s son, Hannah said the 58-year-old has remained a huge part of her life.

She said: “She’s been like a second mum to me for 17 years. She’s always been my biggest supporter.”

Toll on family

The ordeal has also taken a toll on Amanda’s grandchildren.

Hannah said: “My eldest is asking a lot of questions and is upset. My little girl just keeps saying she wants to see her nan.”

She said doctors would either wait until Amanda was biologically dead or keep her alive. Hannah and her daughter are set to return to the UK on Sunday, October 18, while Marisa plans to fly back to Turkey after collecting medication.

Hannah concluded: “We’re upset, shocked and confused. We just don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

The fundraiser can be found on GoFundMe.