Ryanair insists we failed to board a phantom flight

A Ryanair flight from Bristol to Dublin took off during Storm Amy in October last year but could not land at Dublin after two abortive attempts and was diverted to Manchester. Passengers sat on the plane for six hours without complimentary refreshments before being ejected at nearly midnight.

They were told Ryanair staff would organise taxis and hotels, but no crew disembarked and the terminal was deserted, so the letter-writer and others took a taxi to a hotel. There was no word from Ryanair and no flights showed as available the next day, so the passenger took two buses back to Bristol.

The abortive trip cost £900, but Ryanair failed to offer a ticket refund and refused a £240 claim for hotel and transport because it apparently recorded the flight as having landed in Dublin. Customer service agents first insisted the claim be submitted via the airline's online portal, which did not list the flight as cancelled or delayed.

ryanair, bristol, dublin, manchester, storm amy, diverted flight, cancelled flight, refund refused, hotel costs, customer service