Lon More
12th Sep 2005, 10:59
From expat.telegraph
Ryanair passengers are forced to hire bus to get home after their flight is cancelled
By Justin Stares in Brussels
(Filed: 11/09/2005)
Stranded Ryanair passengers were forced to hire a bus and drive 600 miles home after their flight was cancelled and they were told that the next aircraft out of a small French airport would be in 10 days time.
The 51 holidaymakers, led by a Belgian window cleaner, clubbed together to rent a vehicle for €4,000 (£2,700) after the no-frills airline announced that their flight from Carcassone to Charleroi airport, Brussels, would not be replaced.
The passengers, mostly Belgians but including five Britons and 15 Germans, were told upon arriving at the airport last week that their flight to Charleroi, Ryanair's European hub, had been cancelled due to bad weather.
Their aircraft had been diverted to nearby Perpignan during a storm and there was no time to transfer them to that airport before the plane made the return journey, empty, the company said.
"They abandoned us there as if we were dogs," said Gauthier Renders, the 28-year-old window cleaner from Brussels. "There were children there and even an old woman with a walking stick. They didn't even give us a glass of water."
He continued: "At the Ryanair desk they said there were no available flights before September 15. Everything was fully booked. They said that some of us could get home via Gerone in Spain but that was 200 miles away and there were only 15 places available.
"They also said they wouldn't pay for us to get there. So I looked for a bus in the Yellow Pages and we were on the road by 9pm." The bus company provided two drivers and after a 16-hour drive the coach arrived in Belgium, on Tuesday.
"That's a long trip and everyone was pretty frustrated when we got there. Ryanair said they would refund our return flight - half the price of the original ticket - but said that it would take three weeks for the money to arrive," Mr Renders said. "They don't care about the bad publicity; they know they are a cheap airline and that people will use them again just because they are cheap. But not me: my wife and I will never fly Ryanair again."
Mr Renders and his wife paid €220 each for the return trip to Carcassone, where they were attending a wedding. "I collected the names and numbers of the other passengers and as soon as I got back I phoned my lawyer. I thought we could take them to court, but he said there was not much point as some people only paid €5 and the legal fees would be much higher than that."
David Gering, Ryanair's commercial director in Belgium, said: "Ryanair is the company which cancels the fewest flights in Europe, though we do occasionally have to due to technical problems or bad weather. In the case of a cancellation our policy is to reimburse or offer a seat on the next available flight."
A spokesman for Charleroi airport said: "The subsequent flights were all fully booked and Ryanair did not want to spend the money sending a replacement aircraft."
The incident came in the week that Ryanair suffered a setback in its fight to overturn a European Union law that raises compensation for stranded travellers.
An advocate general at the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice said that the 2004 law, which took effect in February, should be upheld.
The legislation entitles passengers left stranded by overbookings or cancelled flights to compensation of between €250 and €600. The law sets out how passengers should either be re-routed, or looked after while awaiting a new flight - including the circumstances in which they must be provided with food, hotels and access to a telephone. Ryanair admits that it has been "inundated with claims" following the posting of the new rules on notice boards at airports all over the EU.
Ryanair and nine other airlines represented by the European Low Fares Airline Association want the legislation scrapped on the grounds that it contravenes an international agreement protecting airlines when delays are beyond their control. They claim that the rules are unfair because compensation may exceed what customers pay for their tickets.
"The regulation on compensation and assistance to air passengers is valid," advocate general Leendert Geelhoed said. The full court usually follows the advocate general's advice.
Ryanair passengers are forced to hire bus to get home after their flight is cancelled
By Justin Stares in Brussels
(Filed: 11/09/2005)
Stranded Ryanair passengers were forced to hire a bus and drive 600 miles home after their flight was cancelled and they were told that the next aircraft out of a small French airport would be in 10 days time.
The 51 holidaymakers, led by a Belgian window cleaner, clubbed together to rent a vehicle for €4,000 (£2,700) after the no-frills airline announced that their flight from Carcassone to Charleroi airport, Brussels, would not be replaced.
The passengers, mostly Belgians but including five Britons and 15 Germans, were told upon arriving at the airport last week that their flight to Charleroi, Ryanair's European hub, had been cancelled due to bad weather.
Their aircraft had been diverted to nearby Perpignan during a storm and there was no time to transfer them to that airport before the plane made the return journey, empty, the company said.
"They abandoned us there as if we were dogs," said Gauthier Renders, the 28-year-old window cleaner from Brussels. "There were children there and even an old woman with a walking stick. They didn't even give us a glass of water."
He continued: "At the Ryanair desk they said there were no available flights before September 15. Everything was fully booked. They said that some of us could get home via Gerone in Spain but that was 200 miles away and there were only 15 places available.
"They also said they wouldn't pay for us to get there. So I looked for a bus in the Yellow Pages and we were on the road by 9pm." The bus company provided two drivers and after a 16-hour drive the coach arrived in Belgium, on Tuesday.
"That's a long trip and everyone was pretty frustrated when we got there. Ryanair said they would refund our return flight - half the price of the original ticket - but said that it would take three weeks for the money to arrive," Mr Renders said. "They don't care about the bad publicity; they know they are a cheap airline and that people will use them again just because they are cheap. But not me: my wife and I will never fly Ryanair again."
Mr Renders and his wife paid €220 each for the return trip to Carcassone, where they were attending a wedding. "I collected the names and numbers of the other passengers and as soon as I got back I phoned my lawyer. I thought we could take them to court, but he said there was not much point as some people only paid €5 and the legal fees would be much higher than that."
David Gering, Ryanair's commercial director in Belgium, said: "Ryanair is the company which cancels the fewest flights in Europe, though we do occasionally have to due to technical problems or bad weather. In the case of a cancellation our policy is to reimburse or offer a seat on the next available flight."
A spokesman for Charleroi airport said: "The subsequent flights were all fully booked and Ryanair did not want to spend the money sending a replacement aircraft."
The incident came in the week that Ryanair suffered a setback in its fight to overturn a European Union law that raises compensation for stranded travellers.
An advocate general at the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice said that the 2004 law, which took effect in February, should be upheld.
The legislation entitles passengers left stranded by overbookings or cancelled flights to compensation of between €250 and €600. The law sets out how passengers should either be re-routed, or looked after while awaiting a new flight - including the circumstances in which they must be provided with food, hotels and access to a telephone. Ryanair admits that it has been "inundated with claims" following the posting of the new rules on notice boards at airports all over the EU.
Ryanair and nine other airlines represented by the European Low Fares Airline Association want the legislation scrapped on the grounds that it contravenes an international agreement protecting airlines when delays are beyond their control. They claim that the rules are unfair because compensation may exceed what customers pay for their tickets.
"The regulation on compensation and assistance to air passengers is valid," advocate general Leendert Geelhoed said. The full court usually follows the advocate general's advice.