Ryanair customers due to fly home to Edinburgh have said they’re ‘trapped in Tirana’ after their flight faced several delays.
Tirana Airport erupted into chaos on October 4 when the 10.55am flight to Edinburgh Airport was delayed ‘around seven times’, leaving those set to board the flight stuck in Albania’s capital.
Around 180 passengers – according to Flight Radar – were informed that the new estimated departure time would be around 11.35pm October 5 – over 24 hours later, reports Edinburgh Live.
Stressed passengers described being left ‘in limbo’ with no Ryanair staff available to talk to at the airport.
Customers waited around 10 hours at the gate before they were allegedly ushered out of the airport, back through passport control and security, and back into the carpark.
Buses and coaches were arranged to collect the crowd and transport them to a hotel for the night.
However, some customers have claimed they stopped receiving updates for the flight.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Courtney Cook, 43, claimed: “We were supposed to leave 10:55am on Friday. The flight then got pushed back to 1pm, then 3pm, then 5pm, then 8pm, then 9.40pm, then 11pm, then 2.35am, then finally 10:15am the next day.
“We eventually were taken to hotels to stay at but when we got there, people were being told the flight was actually taking off at 6.30pm on Saturday. That is an estimated time too, so we don’t actually know if it is going to take off.
“At the airport, there was so much confusion. Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on, any updates were just word of mouth.
“There is no Ryanair ground staff. The airport staff didn’t really know what was going on. Eventually, at 7.30pm, we were told to leave the airport. There were over a 100 of us! It was like a scrum. We all got taken to the car park and told to wait for buses which would take us to hotels. One bus turned up and took 50 people, we waited another hour to get ours.
“I stopped getting updates on my app or by text. My booking isn’t even showing up on the app anymore so me and my husband are relying on other passengers to tell us what’s happening.”
Courtney, from Portobello, was on holiday with her husband Ryan, 40.
She described the holiday as the perfect getaway, but claimed trying to get home has turned into a nightmare.
She added: “We feel abandoned. We are at the hotel, but no one knows how we will get to the airport, or what time we need to be there. There was just no communication at all from Ryanair. The staff at the airport and the hotel have been great, really helpful, and have done their best.
“There is just no way of getting through to Ryanair right now. I’ve never known anything like it. Everyone is in disbelief and frustrated.”
Screenshots of updates from those who received them show various notifications describing the departure time changes. However, Courtney’s app no longer shows a departure time.
Since speaking to Edinburgh Live, the estimated flight departure time changed from 6.30pm to 11.35pm.
Courtney later added: “We were all waiting for the coach in the restaurant at the hotel and it hasn’t arrived. The time has now changed to 11.35pm.”
Avid traveller Fiona Gomes, 63, from Fairmilehead was on holiday with her pal Catriona and ‘has never seen anything like it.’
She added: “We were all waiting in the lounge for hours. Everyone was checking their phones but because there were so many of us, the internet wasn’t working properly. I don’t get texts through because the signal is quite bad.
“There is a feeling of desperation and frustration among everyone. The flight completely disappeared off the board by 4.30pm yesterday and I don’t trust we are going to be able to get home.
“I travel a lot and I’ve never seen anything like this. It feels like we’ve been abandoned. Some passengers are getting updates, and others aren’t. It’s very distressing.
“I am never flying with Ryanair ever again.”
According to Tirana Airport, flight RK8295A has been rescheduled and customers are being advised to contact the airline.
At around 2.30pm, customers received an update from Ryanair which reads: “Our operations team is working hard to reduce this delay on your flight. Unfortunately, your flight has been delayed. Your new estimated time of departure is 11.45pm.”
Ryanair has been approached for comment.
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