Andrew Gore was expecting a birthday for his 47th birthday: he flew with his wife Victoria and 10 other people for a week’s holiday on Spain’s Costa Brava.
But after an extraordinary mix-up at Bristol airport, the couple from Mountain Ash, South Wales, were put on the wrong Ryanair plane – away from their family and friends.
Despite having boarding passes showing their destination as Barcelona, they were flown to Kaunus in Lithuania.
To reach their intended destination, they then had to take a 150-mile Uber ride across an international border to Riga, Latvia, and a 1,400-mile flight to Spain.
“I was desperate and scared. I didn’t stop crying,” Ms. Gore said. “It was my worst nightmare.”
Andrew and Victoria Gore, both 47, had done everything right. They had booked a package holiday with Sunshine.co.uk, which cost more than £1,500 for the week. The deal included flights from Bristol to Barcelona with Ryanair.
As Andrew is an amputee and Victoria is autistic, they booked special assistance at Bristol airport and arrived in plenty of time for the 8.15am flight on Saturday 25 May.
Mrs Gore said: “We have been away a lot and have always had special help so this was nothing new to us.
“The minibus took us to the Ryanair plane, they checked our boarding pass and let us onto the plane.”
The couple had been assigned separate seats on their original flight. Ms Gore, who thought she was on a plane leaving soon for Barcelona, 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 boarding so we asked if they were on board and were assured that they were,” Ms Gore said.
The Boeing 737 took off for the 2,300 kilometer journey to Kaunus. “We had a few drinks and then went to sleep because we were up early,” Ms Gore said.
“When we landed, it was very clear that we were in Lithuania.”
They alerted the crew and Ms Gore said the captain was “furious” when he heard what had happened. He instructed the staff to provide care and onward transportation for them.
Since there were no direct flights from Kaunus to Barcelona, the ground crew booked them for 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.
They flew normally to Barcelona the next day and were taken to their hotel on the Costa Brava.
But they had no luggage: it had been 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 about suitcases going to the wrong place‚ but not about people. Nowadays there are so many controls. How could it happen?
“They looked at our boarding passes so often. It’s unbelievable.”
The independent contacted Ryanair, who blamed the incident on ABM, which provides special assistance at the airport.
“These passengers booked special assistance on this flight from Bristol to Barcelona (May 25), but ABM agents put them on the wrong flight to Kaunas, despite signage at the gate clearly indicating the flight’s destination,” said one spokesman.
“On 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 reaccommodated on the next available flight to Barcelona, which arrived the following morning (26 May) would depart from Riga Airport. ).
“As these passengers did not board their flight to Barcelona, their bags were removed from the aircraft in accordance with standard security procedures. When it was realized that these passengers had taken the wrong route and had been diverted to Barcelona, their luggage was rushed from Bristol Airport to Barcelona.
“We sincerely apologize to these passengers for any inconvenience caused as a result of ABM’s error and have assured that they will be fully compensated by Bristol Airport.”
Bristol Airport has been contacted for comment.