Ryanair Prestwick Airport passengers make 36-hour trip
29.11.05
Almost 40 members of a church group have made a 36-hour bus and train journey home to Scotland after being stranded at a German airport.
They were among 130 passengers stuck at Hamburg Lubeck on Sunday when Ryanair cancelled their flight to Prestwick due to technical problems.
The airline offered them a refund or a seat on the next available flight - but were told it was not until Thursday.
The Ayrshire group decided to go by land via Brussels and London.
The 38 members of the group from St Thomas' Church in Muirkirk included Theresa Loy, whose son David voiced concerns at the way the episode had been handled.
"Most of them are elderly. My mother is on the waiting list for a hip replacement and she has quite a serious heart condition," he said.
"To take a three-hour flight is one thing, to travel by bus and train on a 36-hour journey to get herself home is quite a different matter."
He said the group had to get themselves from the airport to Hamburg, then take the train to Brussels.
From there they got the train to London, used the underground to change stations and then headed back to Glasgow. They eventually arrived home on Monday afternoon.
"They did approach Ryanair about putting them up in a hotel until they got them out to Glasgow, but Ryanair have put profit before passenger safety and care," Mr Loy added.
He said it had cost 440 euros for the ticket home, in addition to the costs of additional meals and phone calls.
Mr Loy said the passengers only found out about the cancellation of the flight when one woman's husband phoned her from Glasgow to say he had read about it on the internet.
Ryanair said it regretted the inconvenience but was acting according to its policy.
A spokesman said the flight had been cancelled because of a technical difficulties.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused our passengers. Ryanair cancels the fewest flights in Europe, with 99.4% of our flights operating to schedule," he said.
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A group of Scots stranded by Ryanair in Germany arrived home yesterday after a gruelling 36-hour road and rail journey across Europe and said they would never again use the budget airline.
Faced with the prospect of having to wait for the next available flight - which they were told would be on Thursday - and having been offered a refund of £5 each, the 38-strong church group defiantly made their own arrangements to travel the 1000 miles home.
They were among 180 passengers with the Irish no-frills carrier whose Prestwick-bound flight from Hamburg-Lubeck was cancelled due to "technical problems". The airline's apologies failed to satisfy the group, and it may have breached European legislation by refusing to offer hotel accommodation or any meals.
The group from Muirkirk, Ayrshire, who had been on a shopping trip to the German Christmas markets, jumped on a service bus into Hamburg city centre. There they boarded a train to Brussels, transferred to the Eurostar train to Euston and then took a Virgin train to Glasgow Central.
Angry, tired but extremely relieved to be home, Hugh McGarey, 68, said yesterday: "Ryanair just left us like stray dogs to run about. It was terrible the way they treated us. I'll never fly with that airline again."
Rae Howat, a pensioner, said: "They completely abandoned us. No-one showed any concern about us whatsoever. They wouldn't give us a penny for meals or anything. No-one representing Ryanair came to see us or talk to us. So we just decided to make our own way home."
The St Thomas's Church group, among them many elderly people who did not have credit cards, had to pay out more than £300 each for their train journey back to Scotland. By the time they reached Glasgow - their train almost an hour late - they were exhausted.
There to greet the party at the station was David Loy whose mother, Theresa, 72, and 82-year-old aunt Mary Murray, were among the passengers.
Hugging his mother, a relieved Mr Loy said: "It is an absolute disgrace what these people have been put through.
"My mother has a heart condition and is waiting for a hip replacement.
"I was extremely worried about her . . . Ryanair keeps coming up with all their wonderful figures about how much they make and their passenger numbers but all they're doing is putting profitability before passenger welfare. We shall certainly be considering the legal position."
Among the group was Jimmy Kelly, 67, a Muirkirk councillor who said that he would be taking the matter up with the local MP. He said: "The way they (Ryanair) treated us, well, you'd treat a dog better. They didn't care how we would get home."
Members of the group also revealed how they had to sit in the departure lounge at Hamburg for five hours with no information, and with only a "delayed" sign showing against their flight. They only found out the flight was cancelled when one passenger's husband phoned from Scotland, telling her that the message was on Ryanair's website.
The fate of the other Prestwick-bound passengers was unknown last night though, like the Muirkirk group, most had decided to cut their losses and make their own way home.
Annette MacKay, a Glasgow teacher who had gone to Hamburg with her husband Ian for a one-night break, said they had slept in the airport overnight on Sunday before flying to Milan to catch a connecting flight yesterday.
"Ryanair said they would pay for one flight. So they paid for us to get to Milan. Then, when we got to the Ryanair check in desk at Milan, we had to pay £120 each to get back to Glasgow," she said.
Ryanair said it had offered passengers their money back. In the case of the Muirkirk group at least, this amounted to £5 each.
The firm added it was "not company policy" to provide accommodation and meals.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused our passengers," said a spokesman.
However, it was clear yesterday that the Dublin-based airline could face compensation claims from the passengers.
A spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents said: "If an airline cancels your flight, unless it is for reasons of 'force majeur' - and a plane 'going tech' doesn't usually count - then you are entitled to compensation under new rules which were introduced in February."
However, an official at the Air Transport Users' Council said that while the new rules were legally binding, some airlines interpreted them differently from others.
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