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David Dimbleby caught up in Stansted Ryanair chaos
Peter Dominiczak3 Aug 2009
Television presenter David Dimbleby was among hundreds of passengers stranded at Stansted airport after low-cost airline Ryanair failed to open enough check-in desks to cope with the holiday rush.
More than 700 passengers missed flights on Saturday, and police had to be called in to calm furious customers as queues backed up through the terminal.
Ryanair had only 11 check-in “bag drops” open to deal with 255 flights on one of the busiest departure days of the year.
The previous week, the airline had double the number of check-in desks open, according to a source at the airport.
More than 700 passengers, many of them families with young children, had to find alternative flights or cancel their holidays. Some were forced to stay overnight in the terminal on Saturday.
BBC Question Time presenter David Dimbleby, 70, with his wife and family, had been due to fly to Toulon, in the south of France.
The family were still holding their luggage when their plane departed at 6.35pm on Saturday, 95 minutes after the check-in desk opened and almost two hours after he had arrived at the airport.
He said: “It's a 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.”
The presenter said that police had to come to the terminal to deal with enraged holidaymakers.
“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 machine guns, supposed to be protecting us from terrorists, but they end up protecting Ryanair ticket sellers. It's absurd,” he said.
Fiona Wilson, 35, was told she was too late to board her flight for a two-week holiday in Grenada but some of her luggage had been put on the plane. She said: “They are not sure when we can get it back.”
Ryanair encourages its passengers to check in online and charges extra for luggage. The company plans to stop airport check-in altogether from October.
A Stansted airport spokesman said: “There were only 11 Ryanair check-in desks open, which is fewer than we would have expected given the volume of flights they have.”
A source at the airport said that Ryanair have pledged to open more check-in desks in the future in order to avoid and more issues with overcrowding.
The spokesman said that all the passengers who missed their flights were offered alternative bookings free of charge and that the majority had left the airport by Sunday morning.
Ryanair subcontracts its check-in desks to ground services company Swissport. Ryanair could not be reached for comment but a spokesman for Swissport said: “We apologise for the inconvenience caused to passengers. We are aware of the problem and are working with Ryanair to resolve the issue urgently.
Reader views (19)
I think Ryan Air Fan, is probably the only one and missing the point some what. It is of no relevance if David Dimbleby flew what ever airline he is still a paying customer and deserves a service as do all customers. It is comical that even on Ryan airs website it says "Book Cheap Flights" as i have never encountered such a deal. I fly quite frequently and also my company uses its services also, so all in all we spend a lot of money with them a year. I must say the service is not the best but it is certainly up there. However I wish these airlines would stop being called low budget as they are not. I am so glad that Mr Dimbleby was on the flight as this story probably would not have got the press it has and highlighted that this was completely unsatisfactory and bad planned operation by ryan air and its partners.
- John, birmungham - UK, 18/09/2009 12:23
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What a cheapskate. Well you get what you pay for I suppose.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 18/09/2009 11:23
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So typical of Ryanair. Just as well Michael O'Leary was unavailable for comment, as I'm sure his response would be "#@!% 'em".
As for checking in online, I travelled to "Frankfurt" Hahn in May, and opted to check in online. However, we were penalised for doing so by having our suitcase left sitting in the bag drop in Germany for three days when we returned home.
- Richard, Madrid, Spain, 18/09/2009 11:23
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Mr Rodhouse - your comment "The simple answer when you fly RyanAir is to check in on-line first" is not very helpful.
If you read the article it clearly states that only 11 “bag drops” were open. These bag-drop counters are used by people who have checked in online to deposit their checked-in baggage as well as those checking in on the machines in the terminal!!
Basically anyone who has paid to put their luggage in the hold has to stand in a ridiculously long queue in order to hand their luggage over to Ryanair.
- Nicola, London, UK, 18/09/2009 11:23
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So typical for Ryanair blame someone else it's not our fault and bla bla bla.
I hope that everybody knows that in such case under EU law they can claim compensation from Ryanair for missed flight.
And to Nicola everybody have to check online from 4-th or 5-th June but ryanair forget to open kiosk for bag drops upss my God its almost 2 month and they forgot ????
PS Its good to know check Know Your Rights flight EU
- Frequent Traveller, Taunton Somerset, 18/09/2009 11:23
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3 points:
1) I travelled cheaply with Ryanair (necessity due to single-parent low income) on numerous breaks with my son, over the past 9 yrs. We both always took hand-luggage only-pack lightly & carefully & it can be done; checked in online & never had any problems or delays. Thankyou Ryanair.
2) I had to travel Ryanair or Easyjet cos of lack of income- what was Dimbleby's reason?
3) " Fiona Wilson, 35, was told she was too late to board her flight for a two-week holiday in Grenada" Did writer mean Granada as Ryanair don't go to Grenada!
- Ryanair-Fan, Essex, 18/09/2009 11:23
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Yesterday was not an isolated incident.I lined up last week at Stansted for over two hours at the bag check, the carousels in the basement were broken, security told me that there had been a riot earlier in the day. I personally witnessed several families who missed their flights even though they had arrived at the bag checkin hours before their flights.
- Patrick, Ennis, Ireland, 18/09/2009 11:23
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One happily awaits the demise of this greedy uncaring selfish airline.
- Frequent Traveller, London, 18/09/2009 11:23
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Online check-in is not the solution. At Madrid Barajas you have to queue with those checking in normally, as there is no dedicated bag drop. Then your case gets left behind because it wasn't checked in the normal way.
Incidentally, I only fly Ryanair to destinations not served by other airlines, as I suspect is the case of most of their passengers. Where there is an alternative, I am willing to pay extra.
- Richard, Madrid, Spain, 18/09/2009 11:23
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Hilarious. I was at Stanstead, laughing at all these people who travel on this crappy airline. Watching the mob fight it out provided me with a nice bit of diversionary entertainment.
- Kevin Lynch, Dublin, 18/09/2009 11:23
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Fly Ryanair, ha ha ha ha!!!!!!.
- Mr S.Port, London, 18/09/2009 11:23
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Even if you check in on line you still have to queue up to hand over your suitcases.
"Fly Ryan Air and you'll never get there"
- Adam, Harrow, UK, 18/09/2009 11:23
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The simple answer when you fly RyanAir is to check in on-line first. No problems then. Of course, if you don´t like the idea, you can always fly BA and run the gauntlet at Terminal 5 . . . . . . . . . .
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands, 18/09/2009 11:23
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The only way to fly Ryanair is to check-in online, and only take your 10kg hand luggage allowance.
I've seen the queues at Stanstead for Ryanair flights, they are mainly young families who obviously have to take a lot more stuff with them. My advice to anyone travelling with either young children or the elderly is don't fly Ryanair.
- Mrs, London UK, 18/09/2009 11:23
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I have made around 50 Ryanair flights over the last 2 years and my advice from experience is to realize what you are buying. The following facts should be considered:
1. Ryanair's claim to be the most punctual airline is true - they get you there on time. Why? Because they are ruthless in invoking their rules and they don't let a few late passengers delay the flight.
2. They are easily the cheapest way to fly bar none. Catch the bargains when they have a promotion going on (which is most of the time) and you pay ridiculously low fares. In July I bought 11 flights for a total of £117.
3. As others have said, avoid taking checked-in bags at all costs particularly during holiday periods. Probably better to use another airline if possible.
4. Despite their dreadful customer service attitude, Ryanair has led the industry with innovative measures to make air travel more efficient. They were the first to offer online check-in which works a treat in avoiding queues, and their idea of taking your checked bags all the way to the plane will be a big improvement if they get the logistics right. True to say these changes are made mainly for their own profit, but if the customer benefits as well it can't be bad. And ignore the PR rubbish about paying for the loo!
In summary you get what you pay for and as long as you untick all the boxes for baggage,priority boarding,insurance and book in advance when they are running promotion it saves you a fortune.
- David, London and France, 18/09/2009 11:23
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There was just as much chaos the next day and those of us who missed their flights had to pay £100 per person for the transfer. So we effectively paid them extra for their inefficiency.
- Furious Ex Ryannair Customer, Surrey, 18/09/2009 11:23
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I flew Ryanair the previous week and it was just as bad. It wasn't cheap, but no one else flies to Girona so my hands were tied. The main reaon why their punctuality rate is so high is because they allow 2hrs and 20 mins for a 1hr and 40 minute flight! Next year I'll drive to Spain.
And I'm so glad that so many enjoyed a great laugh at other passengers' misery .. it was no fun for the very many foreign passengers who were left queuing for flights that had already left with no flow of information whatsoever from the airline, a lot of them with young children. They won't be in any hurry to return to the Uk (if they ever got to leave in the first place!)
- Paul, London, 18/09/2009 11:23
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I was there at Stansted airport on Saturday 1st with my group of students and it was unbelivable. We queued for three hours and when we arrived at the desk they told us they had just closed our gate and they could not take my students any more!!! Praying (because I knew that our flight had been delayed) after other 15 minutes they allowed my students to drop off the luggages and to leave but it was a real nightmare.
What about this weekend? I am flying back to Italy with another group....will it be another nightmare?
I don't know if I will fly Ryanair anymore.
- Tiziana, Treviso - Italy, 18/09/2009 11:23
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We flew with Ryanair a month ago and had exactly the same problem. Despite being at the airport 2 1/2 hours before our plane was due to take off, once we finally got our bags checked in and got through security we had to run to make the flight. We had a 20 month old with us, which made things even more stressful.
The problem is not just that there are not nearly enough bag drops, but that they are not dedicated for specific flights. Therefore you can get stuck in a queue that's not moving and watch the minutes ticking away before you miss your flight. There are no staff members there checking to see if anyone is trying to check in bags for a flight leaving in the next 30 mins or so, so no way to get to the front of the queue if you get stuck.
Ryanair are quite content to charge you to take luggage (and let's face it - who goes on holiday without luggage??), but not willing to provide the level of service that we've actually paid for. If there was an alternative airline who flew to my required destination I'd take it every time! Unfortunately they've got a monopoly on many European destinations, so they have you over a barrel!!
- Disgruntled Ryanair Customer, London, UK, 18/09/2009 11:23
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