A couple have criticised Ryanair – after boarding the wrong plane on a flight to Alicante-Elche airport from Manchester.
However, Ryanair said it was the passengers responsibility to ensure they board the correct aircraft.
Simon Robinson, 57, and wife Michelle, 59, went through the boarding gate at Manchester Airport – on to a different plane, than their scheduled booking.
The flight mix-up occurred amid two Ryanair flights to Alicante-Elche airport scheduled at similar times.
“When we arrived at the airport it was extremely busy. We got to Terminal 3 and I put my case on the bag drop – but it didn’t work so we had to queue up for check-in,” said Simon.
“We got our printed boarding passes – that was all fine. We went through security and it was absolutely mad. We got through to departures and knew exactly what time our flight was,” he said.
“The gate went up and we arrived at Gate 48. They called out the number on our boarding pass and me and my wife went up. We went through and straight onto the plane.
“Someone came over and said we were in their seat – but we knew we were in the right seat. Luckily we went to the front of the plane and they told us we were on the wrong plane,” added Simon.
After the mix-up their correct flight was held for them – until they boarded: “The lack of organisation from Ryanair was abysmal.
“For some reason there were two Ryanair flights to Alicante at pretty much the same time.
“They should have told us before we were allowed to go through to the plane. Luckily our bags were on the right plane – but I could have been anyone.
“Thankfully they held our flight for us – I would have been fuming if we had missed it. I won’t be flying with Ryanair again after this.”
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “It is each passenger’s responsibility to ensure they board the correct aircraft. “There are several touch points throughout the passenger journey, which inform passengers of the aircraft’s destination.
“These include Flight number and destination, clearly printed on the passenger’s boarding card, flight number and destination displayed at the gate, flight number and destination called out in the standard boarding PA, flight number and destination are mentioned in the welcome PA on board.
“As these passengers passed through security control pre-boarding there was no security risk.
“We are working with our handling agents in Manchester Airport (Swissport) to ensure that this error doesn’t re-occur.”
Caption: Michelle and Simon Robinson arrived in Spain after initially boarding wrong plane to Alicante-Elche airport.
