A couple have criticised Ryanair for their 'lack of organisation' after they discovered they were onboard the wrong flight just minutes before it was due to take-off.
Simon Robinson, 57, and his wife Michelle, 59, were allowed through the boarding gate at Manchester Airport and on to a different plane. They said they only realised when other passengers alerted them they were in the wrong seat.
Ryanair have admitted the error, and said it was the 'passengers' responsibility to ensure they board the correct aircraft'. But, Simon has branded the incident "concerning" as they 'could have been anyone.'
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The couple, from Stalybridge, Tameside, said they were confident they were boarding the correct flight. But Simon said due to there being two Ryanair flights to Alicante at similar times, this might have caused the mix-up.
Speaking to the M.E.N .he said: "When we arrived at the airport it was extremely busy. We got to Terminal Three and I put my case on the bag drop but it didn't work so we had to queue up for check-in.
"We got our printed boarding passes and that was all fine. We went through security and it was absolutely mad. We got through to departures and knew exactly what time our flight was.
"The gate went up and we arrived at gate 48. They called out the number on our boarding pass and me and my wife went up. We went through and straight on to the plane.
"Someone came over and said we were in their seat but we knew we were in the right seat. Luckily we went to the front of the plane and they told us we were on the wrong plane."
Simon said fortunately the correct flight was held for them until they were able to board, but claims they were unable to sit in the seats they had booked and paid for.
"The lack of organisation from Ryanair was abysmal. For some reason there were two Ryanair flights to Alicante at pretty much the same time," he said.
"They should have told us before we were allowed to go through to the plane. Luckily our bags were on the right plane but I could have been anyone. Thankfully they held our flight for us. I would have been fuming if we had missed it. I won’t be flying with Ryanair again after this."
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "It is each passenger's responsibility to ensure they board the correct aircraft. There are several touch points throughout the passenger journey which inform passengers of the aircraft's destination.
"These include: Flight number and destination are clearly printed on the passenger’s boarding card, flight number and destination are displayed at the gate, flight number and destination are called out in the standard boarding PA, flight number and destination are mentioned in the welcome PA on board.
"As these passengers passed through security control pre-boarding there was no security risk. We are working with our handling agents in Manchester Airport (Swissport) to ensure that this error doesn’t reoccur."
