Family missed Ryanair flight due to “Silent Airport”

Mr.S

Mr.S wrote: »

Yes, Ryanair do this regularly. Obviously not in this case.

What % is "regularly"? You mean you have heard them do it a couple of times when you were in the airport?

It's all moot if it's not a consistent approach from a passenger point of view.

Thewife

This is actually fairly standard practice , especially with ryanair who have a 20 minute turn around ! Both flights wouldn’t have been boarding at the same time but on the departure board there could have been 2 flights listed for this gate for example
Gate 104
Dublin-Lisbon boarding 11.00am

Gate 104
Dublin - stanstead boarding 11.30am

However it is the passengers responsibility to make sure they board their flight on time . It’s clearly displayed on the boarding card and also departure screens what time the flight boards/closes .

However I do have sympathy OP that your wife and kids missed the flight , if someone isn’t a regular flyer it can be daunting sometimes and especially with ryanair flights because of the short turnaround it is always busy at gates and it can often get confusing for travellers that might not be as experienced as others .

kilburn wrote: »

Not possible to have 2 flights departing from the same gate

Baby01032012

I received a generic copy and paste response from ryanair so i went back to them and asked them to address the points i had raised.

Their updated response copied below was to blame dublin airport staff...names removed

Dear XXXX,

Thank you for your email.

Please accept our deepest apologies for the inconvenience you experienced.

We sincerely apologise if there is no announcement at the airport caused your family to missed the flight.

Unfortunately, as we are not liable for the airport's mistakes (lack of staffing, lack of queue managing), we cannot reimburse you for your additional expenses.

Regarding the issue of the staff at the airport, we will pass on your comments.We must stress that we have no direct control over their staff’s behaviour.

As we are not in control with the airport staffing, we would like to suggest you, to contact the airport with your comments / complaint.

Although we regret that no announcement at the airport,the flight times were printed correctly on the itinerary and boarding cards.

Ryanair are not responsible for the screens at the airport, as these are not operated by Ryanair.

If passenger missed the flight, they have the option to pay our Missed Departure Fee which is £/€ 100/person/way and then the airport crew will book them on the next available flight.

We regret to hear the dissatisfaction you have encountered with one of your reservation made with Ryanair.

Should you have further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours Sincerely,
XXXXXX
Ryanair Customer Support Team
For and on Behalf of
Ryanair DAC.

CrankyHaus

Thewife wrote: »

This is actually fairly standard practice , especially with ryanair who have a 20 minute turn around ! Both flights wouldn’t have been boarding at the same time but on the departure board there could have been 2 flights listed for this gate for example
Gate 104
Dublin-Lisbon boarding 11.00am

Gate 104
Dublin - stanstead boarding 11.30am

However it is the passengers responsibility to make sure they board their flight on time . It’s clearly displayed on the boarding card and also departure screens what time the flight boards/closes .

However I do have sympathy OP that your wife and kids missed the flight , if someone isn’t a regular flyer it can be daunting sometimes and especially with ryanair flights because of the short turnaround it is always busy at gates and it can often get confusing for travellers that might not be as experienced as others .

When you arrive at your gate in time and queue you present for boarding. Ryanair has a responsibility to manage the queue.



Putting two flights worth of passengers queuing at the same gate, failing to adequately notify passengers of this and then refusing boarding to people who queued in time is a failure to meet this responsibility (I don't know if Ryanair actually did this, we only have the OP's secondhand slightly unclear account).

In fact it would be little different from commencing boarding 5 minutes before closing the gate and telling everyone left in the queue that they missed their flight.

un5byh7sqpd2x0

I’m currently in Dublin Airport, in Pier D, I can confirm that it hasn’t become a silent airport since I was last here and all announcements are being made including Final Call and Passenger X intending to fly to Y are being made...

Baby01032012

I beg to differ on Dublin not being a silent airport.....

Dublin Airport Authority - I wish to advise we do operate a silent airport policy however this is more so in relation to passenger paging and public announcements and I can advise that the airlines and handling agents do use the PA system to make call announcements for the flights, however this is not something they are obliged to do and it is carried out at their discretion.

Ryanair - Although we regret that no announcement at the airport, the flight times were printed correctly on the itinerary and boarding cards.

rainbowtrout

Baby01032012 wrote: »

I disagree. Could be breach of contract... ticket purchased checked in online...luggage dropped in appropriate time...at the gate queuing. Airline made no attempt to locate or even notify passenger gate was closing.


When she approached desk she was told all paper work had been done and all passengers were on board.

But you said in an earlier post that she was at the gate an hour beforehand. It doesn't matter how many people were at that gate. If she was taking a Ryanair flight to anywhere, they board at least half an hour beforehand and she would have see the queue move if she was paying attention.

I flew in and out of Dublin last week and there were plenty of announcements.

Sounds like your wife just wasn't paying attention. Not sure it's possible to be at a gate for an hour and not notice the movement when they start boarding.

KaneToad

Mr.S wrote: »

Yes, Ryanair do this regularly. Obviously not in this case.

I think Ryanair will only call you if you have a checked bag in the hold. Its a pain to locate your bag and remove it if you don't show at the gate. If you've no checked bag the airline ( not just Ryanair) won't be too worried about going looking for you ...