Passengers in Spain collapse due to huge delays

A Ryanair flight has left its passengers stranded with a delay of nearly 17 (!) hours. The travelers had to spend Friday night at the airport and were not transferred to a hotel. Some passengers even had to receive medical care, according to Bild.

The exact reasons for the severe delay of the flight from Alicante, Spain, to Berlin were not clear. It looked as if Ryanair had no crew available for the return flight.

One of the affected passengers is Manfred van S. (70 years old). He describes the situation as tragic: “No one here cared about us. Just when people were lying on the ground, police and paramedics arrived.

The incident began quite inconspicuously: flight FR257 from Berlin landed in Alicante with a slight delay of 40 minutes. But then nothing happened at the gate for flight FR258 to Berlin.

After some time, it was announced that departure would be postponed to 11.50pm. At this point, the flight was already five hours late. The passengers were left in the dark and had to spend the night at the gate.

The next morning, 13 hours late, Van S. turned to Bild: “You have to help us.” A request from the German newspaper for Ryanair went unanswered.

The long-awaited news did not arrive until 11 a.m. on Friday morning: boarding was scheduled to begin shortly before noon. At this point the delay was already over 17 hours.

Ryanair does not have its own staff in Alicante. In addition, the airline has not instructed airport staff to book hotels and transport for stranded passengers.

In addition to the €400 (CHF390) compensation, passengers must also be reimbursed for all food and drink expenses. It is still unclear whether this will happen.