Le Figaro Nantes
The initial flight was to last 1h30.
It turned into a seven-hour journey back to the starting point!
This is the misadventure experienced by 189 passengers on a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Nantes on Thursday evening.
The aircraft had left the Irish capital around 7:05 p.m. (local time).
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Initially, the flight went smoothly.
It was during the descent and approaching the prefecture of Loire-Atlantique that the situation began to get complicated.
Shortly before landing, the pilot was forced to abandon the maneuver due to bad weather conditions.
“At the time of the descent, we felt the plane go up.
The pilot explained that it was impossible to land because of the fog
, ”says Frédéric, one of the passengers, to
Figaro
.
Fuel stopover in Marseille
The plane was then diverted to Tours airport (Indre-et-Loire).
Problem: The situation repeats itself.
There again, at the time of the descent, the plane overshoots and regains altitude.
"We didn't quite understand the reason.
We were told that it was too late and that there was a problem because the airport was closed
,” recalls Frédéric.
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Decision is then taken to join the airport of Marseilles.
Initially, the plane was to land there and the passengers would spend the night there in a nearby hotel.
But, the stopover will ultimately be short-lived, around an hour, the time to put kerosene back in the tanks to return to the west of France again:
"We were relieved because, at first, they had spoken to us to perhaps reach Nantes by bus.
Passenger
satisfaction will be short-lived.
Flight rescheduled for Friday noon
Arrived above Nantes airport, where a curfew normally prohibits any landing (except in an emergency) after midnight, the plane has the same problem: impossible to land.
“The driver told us that it wasn't her day or ours
,” said Frédéric.
The aircraft is again rerouted, this time towards... Dublin.
After seven hours of travel, the passengers will finally touch down, but at the place from which they left.
Picked up on their arrival, they were accommodated in a hotel near the airport.
This Friday afternoon, a flight was chartered for them so that they could finally reach France.
“We arrived around 3:30 p.m.
,” confirms
Le Figaro
, Frédéric, relieved to be able to go to Rennes where he must spend the holidays.
Request for compensation
For the moment, he has not yet contacted the airline to request compensation.
He intends to do so.
This French expatriate in Ireland is angry with Ryanair:
"I don't understand why the plane was diverted to Marseilles when closer there are the airports of Rennes, Dinard or Beauvais where the company has a base"
.
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Above all, Frédéric is furious after noticing that aircraft from other companies were able to land at Nantes airport on Thursday evening, unlike his own.
Information confirmed by the management of Nantes airport, which indicated that no other flight had had a problem.
“I am sickened to know that planes landed ten minutes before ours or three minutes after
,” laments Frédéric.
Contacted by
Le Figaro
, the airline Ryanair has not responded to our requests for the moment.