Family delayed at Stansted Airport for 24 HOURS as string of Ryanair flight cancellations ruin their holiday

A FAMILY was left stranded at the airport for 24 hours as two of their Ryanair flights were cancelled in a string of horrific delays.

Mum Maria Pasierb, 32, organised a holiday to Poland with her husband and 13-year-old son when they were caught up in the flight cancellations that plagued the budget airline due to the thunderstorms that hit the UK over the weekend.

Speaking to the Sun Online, Maria said the family had arrived in plenty of time for the 6.50pm flight to Gdansk on Friday night.

But she said after making it through security, were told the flight had been delayed due to air-conditioning problems.

And after finally being ushered onto the plane and told it would leave at 1.20am the passengers were dealt another blow – the pilot was due to finish his shift at 2am and couldn’t fly.

Speaking to the Sun Online, Maria said: “It was a disaster.”

The family joined hundreds of delayed passengers waiting at the airport for answers, with armed police even called in to handle the crowds.

Maria said: “It looked like a refugee camp, kids were sleeping on cardboard and no one knew what was happening.

“I was so shocked.

“Then we realised there were only two people serving all of the hundreds of people waiting at the desk.”

She said that while the tired travellers were mostly patient, she saw one woman burst into tears as she desperately tried to organise her flight.

Maria said: “She was covered in tears but they kept saying there’s nothing we can do.”

Passengers were told to go home to rebook their flights, with Maria’s family chose to wait at the airport to get answers – only seeing a customer service representative at 11am on Saturday.

Eventually, Maria’s family, including husband Barposz Czechowicz, 42, and son Oli, were given another flight – the same as the one they intended to catch on Friday but just 24 hours later.

Deciding it wasn’t worth going home, the family chose to stay at the airport – only for their replacement flight to again be delayed.

The family finally got on a flight to Vilnius in Lithuania on Monday, planning on driving to their destination.

But Maria said the entire experience had left her family exhausted and unimpressed with Ryanair.

She said: “We are counting how much money we have spent out of our holiday allowance just to survive at the airport and for transfers back and forward.

“It has been – still is most unpleasant experience with Airlines. We are flying couple times a year to different countries with different airlines and never have we ever seen anything like it.

“I would suggest to Ryanair to change their ‘Customer Service Desk’ name to only ‘Desk’ as they have got no idea about customers or service.”

Thousands of bags were abandoned at Stansted Airport’s baggage claim after the weekend of travel hell

A Ryainair spokesperson said: “Due to thunderstorms in the UK on Friday night (27 July), Ryanair were forced to cancel a number of flights.

“The knock on effect of this and ATC staff shortages caused further disruptions on Saturday and Sunday (28 and 29 July) including delays and cancellations. Affected customers were notified by email and SMS text message and advised of their options of a refund or free move to the next available flight.

“Ryanair sincerely apologised for these weather and ATC disruptions which are entirely beyond our control. We worked hard to accommodate all affected customers whether at the airport or over the phone.

“All affected customers received a text message and email with a link to receive an automatic refund or option to move themselves to the next available flight.

“We apologised again for these weather and ATC disruptions which were entirely beyond our control.”

An Essex Police spokesperson confirmed they had been called on Saturday morning, saying: “Our officers are professional and well trained to deal with situations like this.

“The situation was quickly managed and passengers were patient and co-operative.”