Hundreds of Ryanair passengers were left stranded at Lisbon Airport after their flight to Dublin Airport was cancelled “without explanation” on Sunday.
The flight from the Portuguese capital was due to depart this morning at 9.30am but passengers were outraged and claimed there were hours of delays without any communication from Ryanair staff.
The passengers were eventually advised to make their own way from the airport and organise accommodation in Lisbon, and return to the airport on Monday morning.
Barry Kelly from Cloughy, Co Down, was one of the passengers booked onto the flight, and described the episode as “shambolic”.
“Never in my day have I seen anything so shambolic or showing such disrespect for passengers,” Kelly said.
“Myself and the other passengers have absolutely no idea why the flight was cancelled. Not one single announcement was made at any stage by airline staff.”
The stranded passengers were initially moved to a different terminal in the airport before some were told that the flight would now be leaving from the northern city of Porto, a three-hour drive away.
Eventually the flight was cancelled, as were a number of other Ryanair flights from the airport, including one to Milan.
“This is my first and last time with Ryanair - they literally didn’t care,” Kelly said.
“At one point things turned nasty. People were shouting and it had the potential to kick off - the staff were clearly not prepared for this.”
A Ryanair spokesman said: "This flight from Lisbon to Dublin was regrettably delayed after the inbound aircraft was unable to land at Lisbon due to bad weather - fog.
"Refreshment vouchers were provided to affected customers, but the flight was subsequently cancelled due to crew exceeding their permitted flying hours.
"Affected customers were contacted by email and SMS text message and advised of their refund/rebooking options and hotel accommodation was offered.
"A replacement flight will depart to Dublin tomorrow morning.
"Ryanair sincerely apologised to affected customers for this weather delay and cancellation which was entirely beyond our control.”
