Ryanair passengers land in the wrong country after ‘missing curfew’

A PLANE full of passengers were left stunned after they landed in the wrong country – 250 miles from where they went to be.

The Ryanair flight from Dublin was bound for Faro in Portugal, only to be forced to divert to Malaga in Spain.

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Due to the air traffic control strike, the flight missed its curfew at Faro Airport and was forced to land at the Spanish airport instead.

The 157 passengers onboard were then forced to get on a bus to the Portuguese destination – taking five hours – although some passengers were unable to board.

However, passengers were left fuming and slammed the airline for taking off when it wouldn’t have landed before the curfew.

One person wrote on social media: “Got on a @Ryanair flight to Faro and I’m in Malaga lads, you couldn’t make this up.”

He also said he had to spend another “€55 on a taxi” for the last leg of the journey.

Another passenger tweeted: “Disgraceful service by @Ryanair, who never had any intention of taking us to Faro, we know now the airport closed at 2am, we took off just before 1am Portugal time.”

Others pointed out they should have flown to Seville instead of Malaga which is much closer to Faro.

Ryanair apologised to the passengers affected, with a spokesperson saying: “This flight from Dublin to Faro (16 Sept) diverted to Malaga having missed Faro Airport’s curfew due to disruption from the French Air Traffic Control (ATC) strike, which was entirely beyond our control and impacted all airlines flying to/from/over France that day.

“To minimise disruption to passengers, Ryanair quickly arranged for a coach to transport passengers from Malaga Airport to their final destination.

“Ryanair sincerely apologises to passengers for the inconvenience caused as a result of this unjustified French ATC strike.”

The air traffic control strike in France meant airlines were forced to cancel hundreds of flights last week, affecting Ryanair and easyJet.

It’s not the first time people have ended up in the wrong country.

A couple ended up 1,200 miles in the wrong country after they boarded a Ryanair flight to Greece instead of Spain.

A gran was flown 680 miles away from her grandson’s wedding due to getting on the wrong plane.

And one couple were meant to fly to Copenhagen – but landed in Paris instead.

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