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04 Aug 2009 Hundreds miss flight as airline can’t handle check-in
3 AUG 2009: Ryanair is in the news again. Talk about a miscalculation. Hundreds of travellers missed their flights from London’s Stansted airport on Saturday after the low cost carrier failed to open enough check-in desks. Only 11 check -in desks were open for 255 flights on one of the UK’s busiest weekends of the year.
About 500 passengers were faced with trying to book alternative flights or cancelling their holidays, and some, including those with young children, were sleeping in the terminal.
Despite arriving in lots of time, many passengers failed to make their flights as they waited in interminable lines to check in or drop off bags. As tempers flared and tension mounted, police had to be called in to help with co-ordinating the line-ups and calming passengers.
Ryanair has been trying to encourage passengers to check in online, and saying it plans to scrap check-in entirely as of October.
BBC host of Question Time, David Dimbleby and his wife and family, had been due to fly to Toulon, in France, but were still waiting when their plane departed at 6.35 pm, 95 minutes after the check-in desk opened and almost two hours after he had arrived at the airport.
He told The UK media that it was nightmare. “Ryanair have abdicated responsibility. They have not spoken to any of these people, there have not been any public announcements and they have not said when the flights are called.
“They sell tickets for flights and don’t operate a check-in but are quite happy to take everyone’s money. The police are here with machineguns, supposed to be protecting us from terrorists, but they end up protecting Ryanair ticket sellers. It’s absurd.”
Ryanair subcontracts its check-in desks to Swissport. The airline issued a statement apologising to the passengers concerned.
It also said that it operates an on-line check in service for all its passengers, and that no passengers are required to queue to check in at the airport. It failed to mention however that families with infant must check-in baggage and use its bag-drop facilities.
The question is, “Why do people fly Ryaniar?”
The answer – pretty obvious – the price. But sometimes folks, you get what you pay for.
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