Airline leaves passengers stranded in the desert
Ferry Online Travel News 21/05/2009
Ryanair abandons its passengers at an airport in the middle of the desert.
Ryanair has hit the headlines again and this time they left 21 passengers stranded at Marrakech Airport after bringing their flight forward by one hour. Ryanair refused to compensate passengers because they informed everyone via email 22 hours before the flight was scheduled to leave.
No Ryanair staff were present at Marrakech Airport and after a lengthy wait an agent rang the head office for the 21 strong crowd and they were informed that they should make alternative arrangements to get home and submit a claim to Ryanair for compensation.
Elizabeth Reilly one of the passengers based in Scotland had to spend an extra £345 on a flight to Gatwick and missed her connecting flight to Glasgow, so she spent the night at Gatwick Airport and paid an additional £92 for a flight home. “As soon as I got home I sent my claim expecting to be reimbursed, but was told that because Ryanair had notified the passengers of the change, no compensation would be paid,” Reilly said.
After The Guardian Money stepped in and contacted Ryanair they agreed to compensate Ms Reilly £360 and any further expenses she incurred due to missing the flight. “An IT systems error meant a small number of passengers failed to receive our initial schedule change via email,” a spokesman for Ryanair said.
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