A FAMILY have been left "stranded" in Edinburgh after their flight from Spain to Aberdeen attempted to land during a red weather warning.
After enjoying a holiday in San Pedro, the group's Ryanair flight to Aberdeen on October 19 was scheduled to go ahead – much to their surprise.
Matthew Ward Hunter and his family, from Moray, were travelling with three generations of family members.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, he believes that their whole experience of flying with Ryanair was "chaotic".
They were left stranded in Edinburgh with no confirmed accommodation after their flight was unable to land in Aberdeen.
The flight was set to arrive at 4.15pm, but after an attempt to make a "rocky" landing, the flight was unable to land in Aberdeen and was diverted to Edinburgh.
The family then landed in the capital at 5pm, and after reportedly waiting on the plane for over an hour, Matthew claims all passengers were told that they would be provided with accommodation, however the Hunter family arrived at their hotel to be told that no room had been booked for them.
Ryanair apologises for "any inconvenience caused" and said that the booking the provider made for the family was cancelled at short notice. The airline also said that Matthew was notified and advised to make their own booking and claim the money back from Ryanair.
Matthew said: "The pilot made an announcement on our flight that the winds were high but they were going to attempt to arrive in Aberdeen safely. When we got to Aberdeen it was a bit of a rollercoaster trying to land.
"The pilot then let us know that we wouldn’t be able to land in Aberdeen so the flight would be diverted to Edinburgh. However, the communication has just been so poor in every sense of the word.
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"Eventually, we were told that they would book rooms for us but we had no communication whatsoever, no staff turned up to talk to us after we landed.
"After two ours of waiting, it was around 9pm by this time, they attempted to find us somewhere to stay in Edinburgh but there was so much trouble with it. There was a line of people waiting for a room and by this point, our party was split up.
"We were then told that we were getting put in a taxi and being sent to the Mercure hotel on Princes Street. The taxi driver got lost on the way and when we got there, they said that they had no booking for us. Thankfully and by absolute luck, a cancellation came in and we were given a family room."
However, the following morning the family continued to face chaos and still had no answers as to how they were going to get back to Aberdeen.
According to Matthew, they received a message from Ryanair saying a taxi would come and pick them up and take them back to the airport, however, he says their transport did not show up.
Some other passengers from their flight were told to get a train back to Aberdeen, however due to the weather conditions and the red weather warning in place for the East of the country due to Storm Babet, there are no trains or buses running North of Edinburgh – leaving families stranded in the capital.
Matthew shared how the Mercure hotel had no availability for them to stay another night, as they are currently still in Edinburgh and have had to fork out for for another hotel room elsewhere, saying the airline has left them to their own devices.
"The hotel was completely booked up for last night so we are now having to find another hotel, pay for it ourselves and claim back the money. We have no idea how long we will be here for", Matthew said.
"We’ve been abandoned basically with the instruction of make your way back to Aberdeen and we will pay for all your travel.
"There has been a complete lack of communication from the beginning and we all agree that they shouldn’t have attempted to take off from Spain in the first place.
"I can say with confidence that we will never travel with Ryanair again. It's been a total disaster."
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “This flight from Alicante to Aberdeen (19 Oct) diverted to Edinburgh as a result of Storm Babet. Affected passengers were notified and advised of their options.
"Despite Ryanair’s best efforts to organise group transport to Aberdeen, we were unable to do so, and passengers were advised that they could arrange individual transport from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and claim back expenses on Ryanair.com, and that any passengers that were unable to arrange individual transport could avail of overnight accommodation organised by Ryanair."
"Ryanair booked hotel accommodation and transport from the hotel back to Edinburgh Airport the following day (20 Oct) for Mr. Ward Hunter and his family, which was communicated to him via SMS.
"Regrettably, the provider booked to transport Mr. Ward Hunter and his family back to Edinburgh Airport cancelled the booking at short notice and Ward Hunter and his family were advised to book transport from the hotel to Edinburgh Airport directly and claim back expenses on Ryanair.com.
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"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused as result of this weather-related disruption, which is entirely beyond Ryanair’s control.”
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