PROPERTY SEARCH
Aer Lingus passengers left stranded in Spain in the middle of the night
The passengers claim they were “dumped” by the airline when their flight was diverted from Alicante
What should have been a routine flight from Dublin to Alicante turned into a frustrating and costly ordeal for Aer Lingus passengers when their flight was diverted to Valencia, leaving them stranded in the middle of the night.
Due to adverse weather conditions, the Aer Lingus Flight EI 0174 was forced to land in Valencia, a city located around 180 kilometres from Alicante. Initially, the airline assured passengers that they would provide buses to transport everyone to their original destination. However, that promise quickly unravelled.
As the frustrated travellers waited at the deserted airport well after 1am, they were informed that there were no buses available. Then, they were told that taxis would be provided, only to find that there were not enough to accommodate everyone.
Ultimately, many passengers were left with no choice but to pay for their own transportation, shelling out up to 400 euros for a cab ride to Alicante. The airline has since confirmed that this will be refunded.
Among those affected were the parents of Shauna Fagan, who said her relatives were stuck at the airport and eventually coughed up 350 euros to get to the Costa Blanca by taxi. She added that Aer Lingus provided no help or guidance whatsoever.
“At almost half one Spanish time, I got another message from my dad saying ‘no assistance. We are all outside airport waiting on buses to show up. I’d say we be here a while’.,” Ms Fagan said.
“Shortly followed up with a ‘it’s amazing when things like this happen no one around from Aer Lingus at all or anyone else I’d say there’s about 200 of us waiting outside’.”
Another passenger tweeted: “Aer Lingus flight diverted from Alicante to Valencia. Every passenger dumped outside the airport. No rep. No advice. Disgraceful.”
In an email to passengers, the airline acknowledged the diversion but fell short of addressing the transportation fiasco that followed.
On the same day, due to a technical issue, Aer Lingus flight EI0589 from Málaga to Dublin was delayed and subsequently cancelled.
In other news: New easyJet flights from UK to Spain coming up this year
Image: Aer Lingus
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
25% Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
