Hols pals slam airline's 'appalling' service

HAVING a good time . . . but the group ended up stranded for two days in Spain

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PALS from Oldham were trying to fly home from Malaga but ended up going via Newcastle.

A group of eight friends on a 60th birthday getaway to Spain say their holiday was ruined when Ryanair cancelled their flight and told them they would have to wait four days to fly home.

The lads say they were boarding the Ryanair flight from Malaga to Manchester on Thursday when they were told the flight had been cancelled and asked to get off again.

Celebrating

They went to the airline's main desk to find out what was going on, and after three-and-a-half hours of queueing discovered they would have to wait four days for another flight to Manchester.

Holidaymaker Pete Harrington, who was celebrating his brother Mark's birthday with family and friends, said Ryanair would only pay for two nights' stay in a hotel, and that they were told they'd have to fork out for the next two themselves.

The group, which ranged in age from 25 to 60, decided that it would be less costly for them to fly back into Newcastle on Saturday, then pay for two minibuses to take them home to Oldham at a cost of £200 per taxi.

They finally arrived home at noon on Saturday ­- almost 48 hours late.

Warehouse manager Pete (52) says the attitude of Ryanair "stunk" from start to finish, and is now trying to get the airline to reimburse them for the £400 spent to get home from Newcastle, as well as a meal at the hotel in Malaga which was another ?170.

Pete said the problems didn't stop at the flight cancellation, which the airline claim was down to the French air traffic control strike.

He said: "As we got off the plane, more customers started queueing at the gate and the sign changed to say Birmingham. There were half a dozen flights to the UK that day, all of which went over French airspace.

"My brother has a heart condition and had a very low supply of tablets which we stressed to Ryanair and they just told us to find a doctor.

"After the first night in the hotel, we were told to leave with the staff telling us Ryanair were only paying for one night.

"Luckily I had a note from Ryanair which was stamped saying it was two nights, so the hotel let us stay. As you can imagine the stress levels were very high and I spent the next day desperately trying to contact Ryanair via phone, text, email, Twitter, Facebook and even their live chat customer service and got nothing.

"It was appalling service from start to finish, Ryanair were useless and their attitude stunk. It was a horrendous end to what had been a fantastic week for my brother's birthday.

"Our first time and last time flying with Ryanair!"

A Ryanair spokesman said: "This flight from Malaga to Manchester (May 19) was cancelled due to an unjustified French ATC strike (one of 70 flights Ryanair was forced to cancel).

"Affected customers were contacted by email and SMS advising them of their options: a full refund, a free transfer to the next available flight or a free transfer on to an alternative flight, in full compliance with EU261 legislation.

"The customers were transferred onto an alternative available flight (to Newcastle on Saturday) and advised to provide receipted expenses. However, we have had no contact from the customers since and will be happy to look into this matter further when they make contact."