Ryanair passengers, including Matthew Ward Hunter and his family, were stranded in Edinburgh (Picture:Media Scotland/Matthew Ward Hunter/Getty)
Ryanair passengers say they’ve been ‘abandoned’ in Edinburgh after their plane bound for Aberdeen was diverted due to Storm Babet.
One family – who have been told to make their own way back home – have vowed never to fly with the airline again, after what they describe as a ‘chaotic’ experience.
They’re also angry the flight, due to land in Aberdeen on Thursday, took off from Alicante in Spain in the first place, as a red weather warning was in place for eastern Scotland.
After diverting to the Scottish capital, passengers apparently waited on the run way for an hour where they were informed they’d be provided with accommodation.
Matthew Ward Hunter, who was travelling with three generations of his family, said: ‘We were then told that we were getting put in a taxi and being sent to the Mercure hotel on Princes Street.
‘The taxi driver got lost on the way and when we got there, they said that they had no booking for us. Thankfully and by absolute luck, a cancellation came in and we were given a family room.’
The following day Ryanair told Matthew’s group a taxi would pick them up to take them to the airport, but no one showed up.
Matthew’s family were returning from a holiday in Spain (Picture: Matthew Ward Hunter/Media Scotland)
Other passengers were apparently told to take a train to Aberdeen and that they’d be refunded, but trains and buses going north of Edinburgh had been cancelled due to the storm.
Matthew, who had been holidaying in San Pedro, said Mercure hotel had no availability for them to stay another night, so they were forced to find new accommodation for yesterday night.
‘We have no idea how long we will be here for,’ he said.
‘We’ve been abandoned basically with the instruction of make your way back to Aberdeen and we will pay for all your travel.
‘There has been a complete lack of communication from the beginning and we all agree that they shouldn’t have attempted to take off from Spain in the first place.
‘I can say with confidence that we will never travel with Ryanair again. It’s been a total disaster.’
Matthew says he’ll never fly with Ryanair again (Stock picture: Reuters)
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: ‘Despite Ryanair’s best efforts to organise group transport to Aberdeen, we were unable to do so, and passengers were advised that they could arrange individual transport from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and claim back expenses on Ryanair.com, and that any passengers that were unable to arrange individual transport could avail of overnight accommodation organised by Ryanair.
‘Ryanair booked hotel accommodation and transport from the hotel back to Edinburgh Airport the following day for Mr Ward Hunter and his family, which was communicated to him via SMS.
‘Regrettably, the provider booked to transport Mr Ward Hunter and his family back to Edinburgh Airport cancelled the booking at short notice and Mr Ward Hunter and his family were advised to book transport from the hotel to Edinburgh Airport directly and claim back expenses on Ryanair.com.
The flight was diverted to Edinburgh on Thursday (Stock picture: Getty Images)
‘We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused as result of this weather-related disruption, which is entirely beyond Ryanair’s control.’
Meanwhile, a TUI plane at Leeds Bradford skidded off the runway yesterday while landing during the storm.
The aircraft, which had taken off from Corfu, swerved into some nearby grass.
Footage taken from a passenger window on the plane appears to show damage to the wing but Tui said no injuries had been reported.
So far three people in the UK have died as a result of Storm Babet, and several several major road sections and rail routes were closed.
The Met Office said the ‘exceptionally wet and unsettled weather’ will continue through the coming days.
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One family say they’ll never fly with the airline again.