Andrew Baylis, 47, thought he got a good deal spending £ 5 on a flight to Dublin – but ended up spending five and a half hours waiting on the plane for take off

A supermarket worker has seen his long-awaited reunion with friends in Dublin ‘ruined’ after their £ 5 Ryanair flight was delayed by five hours.

Andrew Baylis booked a day trip to Ireland during the company’s October flash sale and got a good deal on a £ 15 round trip flight.

The 47-year-old was visiting friends he hadn’t seen for five years, Birmingham Live Reports.

However, his trip was ruined after he was forced to wait five hours on the plane – without it taking off.

Huge delays meant her day trip to see friends was cut in half and she had almost no time left in Dublin.

Andrew arrived at Birmingham Airport early for the 8:05 am flight on November 11.

However, the passengers were not able to begin boarding the aircraft until 8:30 a.m. and were then informed that the aircraft had run out of fuel.

Things quickly turned from bad to worse when, after two hours of waiting, an announcement from Tannoy informed them that the plane would now need de-icing due to snow.

Andrew said: “We didn’t start to board the plane until 8:30 am So it was already late and it had just started to snow.

“They closed the doors, then the pilot got on the Tannoy and said we were out of fuel.

“Apparently the crew was to board another plane at the other end of the airport, but there was a last minute plane change, but there was no fuel in it.

“We waited about two hours to refuel and then it started to snow again.

“The pilot said we now have to wait for someone to come and de-ice us. We waited another two hours but in the meantime another Ryanair plane landed, parked next to ours and we got it. saw it defrost in front of us, then it started again.

“At this point people wanted to get off the plane and the pilot agreed that those who wanted could get off.

“People were lining up to the back but then had to wait an hour to an hour and a half because no one was available to go up the steps.

“We sat on this plane for five hours and were not offered anything to eat or drink.

“It arrived at around 12:30 pm, then we were told the plane no longer needed de-icing because it had warmed up. The little ice and snow in the plane had melted. “

Andrew said the plane ultimately left the runway five and a half hours late – forcing him to cancel his plans to have lunch with friends and leaving him with just four hours in the city before having to return to the airport for his return flight.

“It lasted about five and a half hours at the end and it wasn’t very comfortable. We had to keep our masks on all the time so it was pretty miserable,” said Andrew.

“All for a one hour flight.

“It ruined our plans. We wanted to go shopping and have a meal, but we ended up going back to our friends for a few hours to catch up, then I had to go back to the airport.”

To make matters worse, Andrew’s claim to Ryanair has since been denied.

He said: “Just before getting off the plane in Dublin, the crew apologized for the delay and the pilot said on the Tannoy that it was not weather related, but due to a lack of ground staff at the airport.

“I was reading on their website that any three hour flight delay means you may be entitled to compensation.

“I filed a late claim and was informed that it was denied as it was due to adverse weather conditions. However, this was not the case, and this was confirmed with the pilot.

“If it was a weather-related delay, then why was a Ryanair flight parked next to us cleared for take off before us? “

He added: “A truly horrible experience.”

An airline spokesperson told BirminghamLive the delay was “beyond Ryanair’s control”.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Birmingham to Dublin (November 27) has been delayed due to adverse weather conditions beyond Ryanair’s control.

“Passengers on the plane were able to purchase refreshments which can be reimbursed on Ryanair.com.

“In accordance with EU law 261, passengers are not entitled to compensation if the flight delay is beyond Ryanair’s control.

“A member of Ryanair’s customer service has been in direct contact with the customer to help them manage the expenses owed to them.”