A family travelling to Sofia, Bulgaria have shared their ordeal at Bristol Airport which left them separated before their flight. The mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, detailed the harrowing incident when her husband was prevented from boarding his Ryanair flight on Sunday, July 14, only to be five minutes behind due to parking delays.
Their flight, originally scheduled to depart at 5.55am, was delayed by around half an hour, adding to the distress when the man was not allowed on the plane. He had to travel to Luton Airport the next day for an alternative flight to Sofia, costing the family £400.
Ryanair said the boarding gate closed at the scheduled time of 05.30am after a 40-minute window and that once boarding was complete, a manifesto was legally signed and sent to the captain, prohibiting the boarding gate from reopening, Bristol Live reported.
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The experience was described by the distressed mother as “very unpleasant”, her situation worsening when she informed a member of the Ryanair crew at the gate of her husband’s arrival, only to be told there were two minutes left until the gate closed. Her husband was sadly refused permission to board, despite his pleas and the fact that all other passengers were still boarding.
The mother said: “I told my husband to hurry up and he literally ran towards the door and said it was a minute away. We went through the boarding gate as it takes longer with a small child and then he closed the door in no more than a minute.”
She continued: “Within two to five minutes of us first getting to the door, my husband’s face appeared in the glass of the door. He was waving and asking permission to come in and he looked so happy to think he was in. I was begging the doorman to open the door but when the door closed he said he couldn’t open it. Why did he close the door because he was exactly a minute away and I told him he was coming?”
Another passenger was also denied boarding, which caused even greater distress: “There was another passenger who arrived at the gate right after my husband and he also couldn’t board. There were no other passengers boarding at the time. I burst into tears because it ruined our holiday and my children were very upset.”
Anne added: “Half an hour before our scheduled departure and still no one had boarded. The plane didn’t take off for another hour after the door closed because the plane was 30 minutes late. It was a terrifying, horrifying experience. I want people to know what happened to us because they might think you have more time to board than you need. It has put me off using Ryanair again.”
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“I told my husband to hurry up and he literally ran towards the door and said it was a minute away. We got through the boarding gate because it takes longer with a small child and he closed the gate in less than a minute. Two to five minutes after we first got to the gate, my husband’s face appeared in the glass of the door. He was waving and asking permission to come in and he looked so happy that he thought he had made it.
“I was begging the gatekeeper to open the door but when the door was closed he said he couldn’t open it. Why did he close the door when he was only a minute away and I told him he would come? Also there was another passenger who came to the gate right after my husband and he couldn’t get on either. There were no other passengers on at the time. I burst into tears because it had ruined our holiday and my children were very upset.”
“Half an hour before our scheduled departure time and still no one had boarded the plane. The plane didn’t take off for another full hour after the door closed because the plane was 30 minutes late.” Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox
The family’s plans to celebrate a big family reunion in Bulgaria and their daughter’s 16th birthday were disrupted by the incident. She has now vowed never to fly with Ryanair again: “It was a terrible, terrifying experience. I want people to know what happened to us because they might think you have more time than you need to get on the plane. It has put me off using Ryanair again.”
Ryanair said in a statement: “Boarding for the flight from Bristol to Sofia on 14 July began at 04.50 local time and ended at 05.35 local time. During this time, the passenger in question did not appear to gate staff prior to boarding being completed and was therefore correctly refused boarding by the gate staff at Bristol Airport.
They added: “It is the responsibility of each passenger to be present before the boarding gate closes (as stated on their boarding pass). If this passenger had been present before the boarding gate closed, they would have boarded this flight from Bristol to Sofia with the 180 other passengers who were already present at the boarding gate desk on time.”