Ryanair Flight Diversion

holbri

In August 2023, I took a flight from Birmingham Airport (BHX) destined for Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI). As we boarded the plane and sat down we were then told that we wouldn't be able to leave for 1 hour 45 minutes. Since there were storms in Palma on this day, this was understandable, however the only food/drink we were offered in this time was warm water from the kettle. We did take off approximately on time with this revised flight time and were on our way. Over an hour and a half into the flight we were told by the pilot that due to the bad weather, we were being diverted to Alicante (obviously not the start to the holiday we wanted, but safety is priority so understandable). The flight attendants informed us that either we would be staying at Alicante Airport for a few hours then would fly to Palma later in the day or we would have to spend the night in Alicante and flown out to Palma in the morning.

Once we arrived at Alicante Airport, we were kept on the plane for over 1 hour, still without an offer of food/drink, waiting to see if we would be able to fly to Palma that day - to which the answer was no. So after approximately 5.5 hours on the plane we disembarked in Alicante. 

We arrived into the airport and were met in the baggage area by 2 Ryanair reps, who informed us that there were no flights available and the only way for them to get us to Palma was for us to take a 6 hour coach trip to Barcelona and, as the rep informed us, a "1 hour ferry" (everyone was repeatedly telling her that there are no 1 hour ferries from Barcelona to Palma, it takes 6 hours, but she was adamant she was correct). Many people walked away at this point, taking the offer of a refund that we were given, but with very few flights available and being given very little time to decide what the best option was, me and my partner took the coach journey in hopes to arrive at our hotel as early as possible.

At this point we were walked to the coach, with no opportunity to get any food or drink for the journey. 2 hours into the journey, we stopped off at the services and were finally able to purchase some food and drink. The coach journey went without issue, after another 2 hours we stopped again for a toilet break and then after the final 2 hours we had arrived at the port of Barcelona. 

By this point everyone was drained and couldn't wait to board the ferry. However, after speaking to the workers on the desk at the port, they had no record of a booking for any of us, and in fact the ferry that we had been told left at 11pm to Palma didn't exist. We had missed the 10:15pm ferry (a ferry which in fact does not take 1 hour, it takes 6). The coach drivers had left at this point so we were stranded in Barcelona with no one from Ryanair to contact.

By some incredible stroke of luck, the 9:30pm ferry to Alcudia had been delayed and we were able to book ourselves onto that. We got on the ferry and began our crossing at around midnight. This was a 5 hour crossing, so by 6am we were off the ferry in Alcudia. We then waited an hour for a taxi, the journey then taking 50 minutes to our hotel and costing almost 100 euros.

Since Ryanair failed to fulfil their duty to get us to the airport in Palma, does this mean we are entitled to the refunds for the flight, money for the costs we incurred getting to the hotel, and/or compensation for the delays and stress of being left stranded at Barcelona port?

la531983

Yes to the first bit, no to the second, weather is out of their control so no compensation is due for the delays (compo is never due for "stress"), just whatever it cost you extra to get to your destination.

silvercar

There was some unexpected bad weather in Palma and flights from most airlines were disrupted.

RyanAir have a duty of care to get you to the destination and for your incidental expenses along the way. No compensation would be due as the weather is not the fault of the airline.