A Ryanair customer has recounted a harrowing overnight stay in what he described as a ‘terrifying hotel’, following the cancellation of his flight. Gerry Mckay was amongst a host of passengers left disgruntled by the situation stemming from the Albania service, which was initially scheduled to depart on Friday, October 4.
After numerous delays, Ryanair arranged hotel accommodation for over a hundred passengers. The flight eventually took off at 9.50pm on Saturday, October 5, reports Stoke on Trent Live. However, Gerry’s relief at finally reaching the hotel turned to dismay when he inspected the condition of his room.
Speaking with EdinburghLive, the 57-year-old elaborated: “There were plug sockets hanging off the walls in my room. I was scared to charge my phone in case I got electrocuted. I couldn’t shower either, the pipes were hanging off the wall too and it was filthy.
“I have really bad asthma and the rug in the room felt wet it was so damp. Even after waiting around in the airport for hours that day, I still couldn’t sleep because my chest was so bad. The shutter was locked so I couldn’t even open the window and the emergency exit was locked.”
Gerry went on to say: “The next morning I got up to walk outside and that helped but I am appalled that Ryanair thought it was an acceptable place to put their customers. They don’t care about people. They are happy to just take your money and leave you to it.”
Gerry further emphasized his dissatisfaction, saying: “I haven’t spoken to one Ryanair rep at all. Not once. I have travelled over 12 times in the last two years all over Europe, Tokyo, Bangkok, Egypt and this is by far the worst treatment I have ever had from anyone.”
In response, a Ryanair spokesperson explained: “This flight from Tirana to Edinburgh (October 4) was delayed overnight due to a technical issue with the aircraft. Passengers were notified and provided with overnight accommodation, while engineers serviced the aircraft, which took longer than initially expected resulting in passengers receiving a number of estimated departure time updates as we endeavoured to keep them informed.
“To minimise disruption to passengers, we arranged for a replacement aircraft from Edinburgh to operate this flight, which departed the following day (October 5) with 144 passengers onboard. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused as a result of this unavoidable tech delay.”