What do you expect from a budget airline? Basically, you know what you are paying for. Not much leg room, extortionately-priced food and drinks and not much in the way of comfort or luxury. As long as it gets you from A to B, there can be few complaints, right? But what about when the airline does not keep its side of the bargain, and you are stranded at Malaga Airport?

We are all aware of the havoc the Volcanic Ash Cloud has wreaked across Europe and the rest of the world, but what gives Ryanair the right to cancel flights when all other airlines are still flying?

I was due to fly from Malaga to East Midlands on the 8th May to see my father, who has been seriously ill. On arrival at Malaga Airport, I looked on the board to see which gate to go to for a 1pm departure to East Midlands. ´Flight Cancelled´ was flashing beside the flight, and beside all Ryanair flights due to leave the same day. Easyjet, BMI Baby and 95% of other flights were unaffected.

There was no Ryanair representative at the check-in desk to advise people what to do or where to go. Most of the passengers had already checked out of their holiday accommodation, and suddenly found themselves stranded thousands of miles away from home in a foreign airport. What did Ryanair do to help? Nothing! Passengers queued at the Ryanair desk for information, and eventually a representative came out to give people the following message: “There will be no Ryanair flights today, and if you want a refund you have to apply on line.”

Wow thanks! Two women in front of me were panic-stricken as they rummaged through their bags looking for a credit card, so they could book another flight for their party of six. As one woman explained: “I don´t know if we can afford to pay for this, but we have nowhere else to go.”

I booked a flight with BMI Baby to Birmingham, and still faced a two hour journey to Nottingham on arrival. The flight cost me €250. On arriving at Birmingham, a taxi to the coach station was a further 22 pounds, and having missed the last coach to Nottingham, I then had to take another taxi to the train station. The train fare was a further 14 pounds. I then  had to get another taxi up to my father´s house from Nottingham station, which cost 10 pounds.

All together, it cost me over €300 to get back, and who is going to compensate me for this? I fully understand that safety is the main issue when flying (or not) and if the volcanic ash cloud causes cancellations across the board, then so be it. But when Ryanair decide not to fly over or around the cloud, as other airlines do, surely should compensate passengers for the extra cost involved in getting to their destination. As the Ryanair representative at East Midlands told me: “Ryanair won´t put extra fuel in the planes to fly around the cloud as they are a low-cost airline.” Not low-cost when they don´t fly, I reminded him! Surely, the airline, low-cost or not, should put some sort of message on it´s website to say: “If there is further volcanic ash disruption, we will not, under any circumstances, fly our planes.”
People who need to get home urgently will then have the choice of risking Ryanair or paying a few quid more to fly with a reputable airline. Try complaining to Ryanair and  you will get nowhere. A lady recently told me she had tried to send a fax to the airline 30 times, without luck as the machine is always switched off, and their customer service number rings for ever, without answering it.

Shame on you Ryanair. Customer service is zero, and you clearly don´t care whether passengers reach their destinations or not. Is there not an ombudsman that people can complain to about this shoddy airline?