Cargo One has made a point over something that struck me as wrong with this story, namely the cost of 3 one way tickets Gatwick to Dublin. 1100 euros seems extortionate and as has been pointed out, another airline would have cost less.
It most certainly would have. If you book at short notice, most of the time other airlines will "cost less" than Ryanair. Those profits at FR are not made by selling scores of tickets at EUR .99 +tax, but (other than from on board sales, internet commissions, FR-branded products and assorted royalties) from those having to fly to Uncle Paddy's funeral at short notice. As long as the general public's perception is that FR is ALWAYS cheapest, the general public is unlikely to shop around.
In a way, those stranded people (assuming the story were to be true) are one of THE main FR target groups. They're distressed and tired, they're unlikely to have immediate access to unbiased fare information, they're in a hurry, they made the mistake of arguing their own case depite the fact that He Who Is His Own Lawyer Has A Fool For Client, and they contacted Ryanair apparently before talking to anyone else. So FR can get away with charging them a lot, plus extra wheelchair charges, weeping relatives supplement, FR press department hourly rates (pro rata tempore), physical ticket counter rental, and God knows what else. Once those slips are signed, all they can expect is a (quite literal) F
O
from MOL.
But I do agree that EUR 1100 sounds quite expensive, even for FR
