Ryanair has stood by their decision to not provide free bottles of water or other refreshments to passengers trapped on their flights for as long as 15 hours owing to Storm Ashley, reasoning they were “not owed” any. The inconvenience and chaos caused by the storm led to passengers sharing their distressing experiences, both literal and figurative, of being airborne amidst the storm.
Alan Duncan, who was flying from Ibiza to Dublin with the airline on Sunday, recounted that the pilot tried to land in Ireland twice, but eventually chose to be rerouted to Liverpool. Upon landing, Mr Duncan was disappointed to find out that passengers were unable to leave the plane as “no one was permitted to disembark due to it being an EU to EU flight. We were confined on the plane for four hours.” He added that there were no provisions of food or water and the plane toilets began to smell. Panic attacks also afflicted several female individuals.
Another passenger who journeyed from the Algarve to Dublin spent 15 hours trying to reach home during the storm’s peak. “We got on the plane in Faro around 9am and finally got off at 11.55pm in Dublin,” recalled Gerald Gallen. The plane made a few failed attempts to land in Dublin before rerouting to Manchester. The plane made two additional attempts to land in Dublin before finally being rerouted to Birmingham, where it stayed idle on the runway for hours. He expressed his displeasure stating that “during the 15 hours on board, Ryanair did not offer even a single bottle of water for free to any passenger.”
Speaking to The Irish Times, he reported that the aircraft had depleted its stock of food, water, and even lavatory roll at one point. He queried why, during a stopover in Birmingham, they didn’t stock up the aircraft with essentials like 150 bottles of water, or consider that they might require more than the additional 10 sandwiches that were sourced. He also mentioned that all of the Pringles they had in stock were sold, and the catering trolley was utilised whenever possible.
At 5pm, he requested some water, and was astonished to find out that he was expected to pay for it. He initially refused to pay for the water nine hours after embarking on the journey, but later conceded out of thirst, purchasing a bottle some 30 minutes later.
In response to the complaints, a Ryanair spokesperson offered an apology for the delays and diversions caused by the tropical storm Ashley, stating that prioritising the safety of passengers and planes was their obligation.
She mentioned that during the detour of the Faro to Dublin flight to the UK, passengers were provided with snacks and refreshments that were available for purchase from the in-flight bar service. Furthermore, she clarified that passengers on board were not allowed free food or drinks, nor were they entitled to compensation for delays and diversions caused by factors beyond Ryanair’s control, such as a tropical storm.
Finally, she extended her appreciation towards the operation teams and crews, lauding their effort to work laboriously under the difficult circumstances of a tropical storm to ensure passengers reached Dublin instead of cancelling flights or leaving passengers stranded in UK airports.