For his 47th birthday, Andrew Gore was expecting a birthday: flying with his wife Victoria and 10 other people for a week’s holiday on Spain’s Costa Brava.
But after extraordinary confusion at Bristol Airport, a couple from Mountain Ash, South Wales, were put on the wrong Ryanair plane – far away from their family and friends.
Despite having boarding passes with Barcelona destinations, they were flown to Kaunas, Lithuania.
To reach their intended destination, they had to endure a 150-mile Uber ride across the international border to Riga, Latvia, and a 1,400-mile flight to Spain.
“I was upset and scared. I couldn’t stop crying,” Ms. Gore said. “It was my worst nightmare.”
Andrew and Victoria Gore, both 47, did everything right. They booked a tour with Sunshine.co.uk which cost over £1,500 a week. The deal included flights from Bristol to Barcelona on Ryanair.
As Andrew is an amputee and Victoria is autistic, they booked special assistance at Bristol Airport and arrived in time for the 8.15am flight on Saturday 25th May.
Mrs Gore said: “We have been away many times and have always had special assistance so it was nothing new to us.
“A minibus took us to the Ryanair plane, they checked our boarding pass and let us on the plane.
The couple had been assigned separate seats on the original flight. Believing she was on a short flight to Barcelona, Ms Gore said: “I asked the flight attendant if we could sit together because I’m scared of flying.
“She checked our boarding pass again and put us in the second row.
They were on the wrong plane, while their family – who had no special assistance – got on the right plane.
“We didn’t see our family get on so we asked if they were on board and sure enough they were,” Ms Gore said.
The Boeing 737 took off on a 1,400-mile journey to Kaunus. “We had a few drinks and then went to bed because we got up early,” Ms Gore said.
“When we were landing, it was very clear that we were in Lithuania.”
They alerted the crew and Ms Gore said the captain was “furious” when he learned what had happened. He assigned staff to provide care and further transportation for them.
As there were no direct flights from Kaunas to Barcelona, the ground staff booked them on the next day’s flight from Riga, 150 miles north across the Latvian border. They were also assigned a hotel and an Uber to take them there.
The following day they flew to Barcelona as usual and were taken to their hotel on the Costa Brava.
However, they had no luggage: it was removed from the Bristol-Barcelona flight when, through no fault of their own, they failed to board the plane.
It finally arrived two days later.
Andrew and Victoria Gore have now returned to South Wales. “I’ve heard of suitcases going to the wrong place, but not people. There are so many checks these days. How could it have happened?
“They looked at our boarding passes so many times. It is unbelievable.”
The Independent contacted Ryanair, who blamed the incident on ABM, who provide special assistance at the airport.
“These passengers booked special assistance for this flight from Bristol to Barcelona (May 25), but ABM agents put them on the wrong flight to Kaunas, despite the flight destination being clearly marked at the gate,” the spokesperson said.
“Upon arrival at Kaunas Airport, these passengers informed the crew that they were on the wrong flight and Ryanair immediately arranged for both passengers to be accommodated on the next available flight to Barcelona, due to depart from Riga Airport the next morning (26th).
“As these passengers did not board the flight to Barcelona, their luggage was removed from the aircraft in accordance with standard security procedures. When it was discovered that these passengers had been misdirected and were diverted to Barcelona, their luggage was quickly transferred from Bristol Airport to Barcelona.
“We sincerely apologize to these passengers for any inconvenience caused as a result of the ABM error and have assured them that Bristol Airport will fully compensate them.”
Bristol Airport has been approached for comment.