Family's Dream Vacation Ruined After Ryanair Is Forced To Cancel Flights

A family’s long-awaited vacation came to a bitter halt Tuesday after Irish budget carrier Ryanair announced it would be cancelling their flight. The family, who saved for the trip for 12 months, were told the Malaga, Spain-bound flight was canceled roughly 45 minutes before they boarded.

The airline told International Business Times in a statement that the cancellation occurred as a result of a strike by French air-traffic controllers and “was entirely beyond our control.” More than 20,000 passengers were affected Tuesday as a result.

The Roffee family had reportedly scrimped and saved £2,105 ($2515 USD) for a year in preparation for the trip, British newspaper Mirror Online reported Monday. It was a celebration of the 30th birthday of Simon Roffee, who with his wife Kellie Roffee were accompanied by their four young daughters.

Following the cancellation, the Roffees claimed their attempts to make different accommodations — they were at the Leeds Bradford Airport from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. — were made in vain. They were offered a flight to depart Monday that would arrive in Spain at 10 p.m. with a return trip departing 11 a.m. the following day — little more than 12 hours after their arrival.

“We normally go away for a weekend camping and we couldn't do it because we were saving up for this holiday, we now won't be getting a holiday this year,” Kellie Roffee said, according to Mirror Online. “We were waiting around the airport, the kids were really excited, we were sat in the VIP lounge and we heard this tannoy and they [were] asking for everyone to go to gate four.”

She said that when they arrived at the gate, the airline “locked the doors and they said nobody was going anywhere” some 45 minutes before boarding. Passengers grew angry, she said, with one woman having a panic attack and crying.

“Amelia-Rose was crying because she was scared, there was a bloke swearing and the police had to come and he almost got arrested,” Kellie Roffee said.

When the Roffee family asked Ryanair if it would be paying for another flight, she said “[the airline] said that was absolutely not going to happen.”

“I feel really bad like I have deprived my children of a holiday, the kids are devastated, absolutely distraught, the next morning my Amelia-Rose came in and asked us ‘are we off on holiday today then?’” Kellie Roffee said.

The family claimed that it was not issued a formal apology, but the airline told IBT in a statement that the family was both refunded as well as issued an apology.

“This flight from Leeds Bradford to Malaga (12 Sep) was regrettably cancelled due to a French Air Traffic Control Strike,” Ryanair told IBT in a statement. “The customers in question have been fully refunded. Ryanair sincerely apologised to all customers affected by this French ATC strike, which was entirely beyond our control.”

Strikes, however, haven’t been the only thing leading to cancellations with the carrier. Ryanair, Europe’s largest short-haul airline, announced Saturday that it anticipated cancelling 40 to 50 flights per day through the end of October. The cancellations — as many as 2,000 — are expected to affect roughly 400,000 passengers and could cost the company $30 million.

The cancellations, according to the airline, occurred after it “messed up in the planning of pilot holidays.”

“We f---ed up here, and we have to fix it. We should have seen it coming. This will have a reputational impact,” CEO Michael O’Leary said on a conference call, according to the Washington Post. “We should have seen it coming. This will have a reputational impact.”