Travellers on a Ryanair service bound for Birmingham were left to spend the night on the ’empty’ floor of an airport after their flight was repeatedly delayed. They have said they felt ‘abandoned’ at Agadir–Al Massira Airport in Morocco after they checked in around 7pm on Sunday (January 5) for their scheduled 9.40pm flight to Birmingham Airport.
However, the departure time was continually pushed back, with passengers claiming ‘they were not offered accommodation’. The deserted airport became a makeshift bedroom as exhausted and frustrated travellers, including tired children and those anxious about missing work the next day, tried to rest as best as they could.
Flight updates informed them that the plane would take off at 12.40am, then 2.10am, followed by 2.50am, 3.35am, and finally 10.30am – but it wasn’t until 11.36am that they actually departed. The flight eventually landed in the UK on Monday (January 6) afternoon at 2.34pm, over half a day later than originally planned.
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An incensed passenger shared with BirminghamLive: “All the passengers on the Agadir flight to Birmingham were stranded at the airport. We just had regular delayed emails.”
The passenger continued: “No one was saying anything. The crew, bags and stairs were all taken away. Kids were crying, people were missing work and people were lying all over the airport floor. We were there since 7pm and they made us check in at the same time even though the flight was delayed.”, reports Birmingham Live.
“It felt like we were in a film scene in some hostage movie; anyone who got any piece of information or the update first was surrounded to find out what was happening. The Birmingham passengers were the only ones left at the airport. Even most of the airport staff had gone home, apart from a few.”
he recounted. “I had enough at 5am and asked if I could leave the airport and go to a hotel to sleep. So, my flight, I believe, was automatically cancelled.”
“They did not give us a hotel or offer any options. At 5am we received an email, that we could rebook for free because it’s been delayed more than five hours or ask for a refund.”
“All night, they treated us badly and shared no information, just updating how long the delay was.”
He lamented the lack of information and absence of Ryanair representatives to turn to for assistance, mentioning that the airport closed down around midnight. According to him, some fellow passengers received a paltry four Euro voucher for sustenance, but this was pitifully insufficient as “the cheapest meal was 10 Euros 80.”
Rounding off his woeful narrative, he said: “I was sitting on the recliner opposite, just watching the madness unfold. You had to queue up one queue to order food, then another queue to pay and then another queue to collect food.”
A Ryanair passenger voiced his disappointment over the chaotic scenes at Birmingham Airport, stating: “But they were not doing it by ticket number, just shouting what item it was so the person who just heard and just ordered it goes he will get it first even though someone has been waiting for over 40 minutes. I saw this happen to a fellow passenger.”
He also revealed understanding from his manager about the need to postpone his return to work due to flight delays reportedly linked to ‘mandatory de-icing of the aircraft earlier today’. However, Ryanair attributed the delay of the Birmingham to Agadir flight primarily to difficult weather conditions at Birmingham Airport.
Snowfall affected several airports from Saturday (January 4) night into Sunday (January 5), leading to the temporary closure of Birmingham Airport on Sunday morning. Following snow clearance from the runways, operations resumed as ‘business as usual’ later that day according to airport officials.
Subscribe to BirminghamLive’s newsletter to keep up with major news updates https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/ryanair-flight-delayed-14-hours-30761231. Further confirmation from Ryanair cited the adverse weather at Birmingham Airport on Sunday as the reason for the significant holdup which saw the service from Agadir to Birmingham pushed back.
A spokesperson for the airline remarked: “This flight from Agadir to Birmingham on January 5 was delayed overnight due to adverse weather conditions at Birmingham Airport, which prevented the inbound aircraft scheduled to operate this flight from departing Birmingham on time.”
“Passengers booked on this flight received over 10 communications via email, SMS and PUSH notifications, and received subsequent updates via the Ryanair app. Passengers were notified of the delay and issued with refreshment vouchers.”
“Despite Ryanair’s efforts to arrange accommodation for passengers, availability was limited in the area. This flight departed at 11.36am local time the following day (January 5). We sincerely apologise to passengers for any inconvenience caused as result of this delay, which was entirely beyond Ryanair’s control.”
The airline also mentioned that passengers can claim back ‘reasonable receipted expenses’ through its website. Meanwhile, Birmingham Airport clarified that the de-icing services are contracted by Ryanair and the issue is not related to the airport.