A Belfast-bound flight was delayed for close to two hours while staff counted the number of passengers on board, it’s been claimed.
The delay on the London Stansted to Belfast International flight on Sunday was blamed on a “technical issue” according to Ryanair.
However, a passenger on the flight claimed that staff couldn’t account for all who were supposed to be there.
He said: “This was the last flight out of Stansted to Belfast so everyone was keen to get home as quickly as possible.
“It looked as though there were two people on the flight who couldn’t be accounted for.
“The flight attendants kept telling us that legally they couldn’t take off until they had the correct number of passengers."
The passenger told the Belfast Telegraph that everyone's details was checked "three times".
He said: "At one point 10 airport staff were in and out of the plane trying to verify passenger details.
“There was a lot of frustration on board amongst passengers and a few raised voices so it was quite tense at times as we couldn’t see an end in sight.
“We did receive a verbal apology from the crew when we eventually got to take off and on landing in Belfast at 1.20am instead of 11.30pm.”
The flight was due to depart at 10.10pm, but didn’t leave until midnight.
A Ryanair spokesman did not fully address the allegations made by the passenger.
They said: “This flight from London Stansted to Belfast (26 May) was regrettably delayed ahead of take-off due to a minor technical issue, before departing to Belfast later that evening. Ryanair sincerely apologised to customers for the delay.”
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