We were forced to pay £350 on taxis after airline dumped us 100 miles in the wrong destination

A FAMILY has claimed that they were "dumped"; almost 100 miles away from where they were supposed to be landing, before having to pay out £350 for a taxi.

The Cope family from Malahide, Dublin were meant to be flying to Hamburg for a Christmas holiday with friends.

However, their journey was affected by "weather-related disruptions".

First, their original flight with Ryanair was cancelled, then their second choice flight had to re-route to Hanover mid-journey due to enforced curfews after it too had been delayed by the weather.

Mother Lisa Cope said that when the plane finally touched down in Hanover, 93 miles from where it was meant to be, it was already gone 1am, but things still got worse after that.

She explained that the family of four soon discovered that there would be no alternative transport to Hamburg, the city they were supposed to be flying to, forcing them to pay €400 (£350) for a taxi.

Lisa told : “You trust an airline to take you to a destination but to dump you hours away in freezing weather, so late at night, is just a horrible thing to contend with

“Every time I close my eyes, I remember the fear of standing outside that terminal and having to pay €400 out of the bank account to get to our destination, days before Christmas.

“You wouldn’t do it to animals. It ruined the trip. We got to the hotel in Hamburg at 3am."

Mrs Cope claimed that passengers were led to believe that there would be a bus to take them to their destination, but there was no such transport when they arrived.

Ryanair told Independent.ie the passengers were informed that they would have to arrange alternative means of transport, which they could claim back from the airline.

They said they “sincerely apologised” for “any inconvenience caused as a result of these weather-related disruptions, which were entirely beyond Ryanair’s control.

“Due to enforced curfews at Hamburg Airport, the flight was unable to land, and was forced to divert to Hanover.

“Despite Ryanair’s efforts to arrange alternative transport to Hamburg, availably of transport was limited and passengers were advised that they could also arrange individual transport from Hanover to Hamburg and that they could claim back expenses on Ryanair.com.”

Sun Online Travel has contacted Ryanair for comment.

A lot of people have wondered if their flights will be cancelled by the bad weather.

This is certainly a possibility and something that has happened many times before.

The problems that lead to cancellations tend to be with ice rather than snow, with both the aircraft and runways affected.

If there's ice on the runway, takeoff and landing becoming increasingly dangerous.

There is equipment at the airport to remove excess snow and ice from the runway, so this may only end up causing a delay, but depending on the conditions, it can lead to a cancellation.

There's more likely to be a cancellation if ice has formed around the plane’s wings, landing gear or at the front or rear of the plane.

This is because it can affect the pilot's control of the aircraft, or even visibility if it forms on the window.

Visibility can also be greatly affected by snowstorms and heavy blizzards that limit sight can also keep planes on the ground.

Meanwhile, Brits were forced to sleep on airport floors after snow cancelled flights.

And here is why planes struggle to land in the UK when it snows - while other countries don't.