• 

  Ryanair

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  FR/RYR

  Airline Type:

  Low-Cost Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Dublin Airport, London Stansted Airport, Milan Bergamo Airport

  Year Founded:

  1985

  Airline Group:

  Ryanair Group

  CEO:

  Eddie Wilson

  Country:

  Ireland

A Ryanair flight bound for Faro, Portugal, from Dublin was forced to divert early Saturday morning to Malaga, Spain, after missing the airport's curfew. Ryanair blamed the disruption on French Air Traffic Control strikes.

A severe disruption

Ryanair flight FR9370 was due to depart Dublin Airport, Ireland, on Friday 16 Sept at 19:35. However, the flight was delayed for four hours and left at 23:46. The aircraft operating this flight was EI-DPI, a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800. Ryanair claims that French air traffic controllers' recent strike led to the hefty delay.

Once the aircraft took off, it headed southerly towards Portugal at 37,000 feet. According to FlightRadar24.com, the flight crew were told they had missed Faro airports curfew once the plane was halfway over Portugal and then turned towards Malaga, Spain. At 1:20, the aircraft landed 400 km away in the wrong country. According to one Twitter user, some passengers realized they were in the wrong country until after they landed.

In response to the diversion, Ryanair sent a bus to collect passengers and bring them to Faro. The bus was packed with 157 people onboard. Due to only one bus, some passengers were reportedly left behind. The bus journey to Faro was five hours long. Once passengers reached the Portuguese border, they quickly swapped buses for the duration of the trip.

In a statement to Simple Flying, Ryanair said:

"This flight from Dublin to Faro (16 Sept) diverted to Malaga having missed Faro Airport's curfew due to disruption from the French Air Traffic Control (ATC) strike, which was entirely beyond our control and impacted all airlines flying to/from/over France that day. To minimise disruption to passengers, Ryanair quickly arranged for a coach to transport passengers from Malaga Airport to their final destination. Ryanair sincerely apologises to passengers for the inconvenience caused as a result of this unjustified French ATC strike."

Discover more aviation news here.

A bad customer experience

Some passengers onboard the diverted flight took to Twitter to express their displeasure at the delay.

"Got on a @Ryanair flight to Faro and I'm in Malaga lads, you couldn't make this up. Morale is low, some people are only just realising we're in Spain. A couple of people are asking, so our best assumption is that @Ryanair knew we could never land in Faro because our flight was delayed so long the airport would be closed before we made it. So they lied and flew us to Spain so they wouldn't have to refund everyone"

Another Twitter user said their girlfriend and her friends had to share a taxi to Faro with another woman.

French ATC on strike

It was reported by Simple Flying last week that the union for ATC controllers, Syndicat National des Contrôleurs du Trafic Aérien (SNCTA) in France, intended to go on strike on Friday, the 16th. The French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) informed airlines that they should halve their flight schedules for Friday.

The most affected airlines were Air France, Ryanair, easyJet, Transavia and Volotea. However, all airlines that used Frances's airspace to fly over were affected.

In response to the strike by controllers, Ryanair was forced to cancel 420 flights. The airline said:

"It is inexplicable that thousands of European citizens and visitors will have their travel plans unfairly disrupted. It is inexcusable that passengers who are not flying to or from France are disrupted."

What do you think about this diversion? Were you affected? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Dublin Live