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A Ryanair customer has claimed that he and several other passengers boarded a flight only to find that their seats on the plane didn’t even exist.
Gerry Harrington and about eight other stunned passengers were left behind on the plane at London’s Stansted Airport on Oct. 21 after realizing their row of seats was missing.
The holidaymakers were to fly to Dublin and had to sit in row 35 of the plane.
However, 62-year-old Mr Harrington said he soon realized that the plane was only going to row 33.
Gerry Harrington, pictured, was planning to fly from Stansted Airport in Essex to Dublin to attend a Subbuteo tournament
Ryanair staff tried to solve the problem, but the flight was overbooked
The plane was supposed to leave Stansted at 10:05 PM but was delayed until 11:34 PM – meaning it didn’t arrive in Dublin until 12:28 PM on Sunday
Mr Harrington, from Haverhill, Suffolk, made a video of him and others crammed into a room at the back of the plane while waiting to find out what was going on.
Footage shows a man in a hi-vis vest asking for help to solve the problem and suggesting passengers be put on standby.
The camera then turns to Mr Harrington who says, “Everyone here has paid for chairs, paid for chairs, paid for chairs.
“We’re stuck at the back of the plane because they’re overbooked, no they sent a smaller plane.”
The overbooked passengers were later offered £250 each and a place to sleep until the next available flight the following morning.
Mr Harrington posted on Facebook last week (October 26) about the incident: ‘Enjoy folks. Stansted Airport Friday, October 21.
“They sent a plane that was too small to carry all the passengers.”
Dozens of people left comments on the clip, with some even being in the same circumstances.
Ryanair offered those denied boarding £250 in cash, a room for the night and a flight to Dublin the following morning
One person said, ‘I think this is a simple case of someone getting excited.
“Ryanair only has two types of planes. The Boeing 737-800AS slowly being replaced by the Boeing 737-800 Max.
“I’m guessing (and it’s only a guess because I have enough information to find your date and route) that you were scheduled to fly on a Max, which has 197 seats, but was sent an old 800, which only had 189. has. chairs.
“I expect some overworked dude in Dublin operations was made aware of the original plane going technical and he was a hoop he could get another plane and crew soon to cover pretty smart.
“Unfortunately, he missed the nine-seat difference. I doubt the gate staff even knew it should have been a Max until the last few passengers tried to get in.
“I’m sorry it ruined your trip, and I hope you’re adequately compensated.”
Another wrote: ‘This is typical of Ryanair. Never any communication.
“They know very well that the replacement aircraft will not have enough seats. You don’t get a look from them.’
A third commented: ‘Has happened to me in July. I can’t believe this is still happening!’
Mr Harrington said he and his friends were going to Dublin to play in a Subbuteo tournament they would have missed. He and his friends got off the plane because others on the flight were on their way home to Ireland for the weekend
Today Mr Harrington said: ‘We were on our way to Dublin to play a Subbuteo tournament but when we got on the plane we looked for our queue which wasn’t there.
“It happened to a few people and suddenly we were all in the back of the plane with no seats and everyone was wondering what could happen.
“Everyone showed their boarding pass and it was clear that there had been a mistake somewhere.
“We were told by Ryanair that if we got off we could have £250 each and they would hang us up that night and get us a flight in the morning but we would have missed the tournament.
“People on that plane had to go home and we didn’t, so we got off the plane.”
A Ryanair spokesperson said: ‘Due to a plane change, a very small number of passengers on this flight from London Stansted to Dublin (21 October) were moved to alternative flights the following day.
‘Afflicted passengers have been given an overnight stay and will receive compensation.
“Ryanair sincerely apologizes to these passengers for any inconvenience caused.”