by A Ryanair holidaymaker only realized her horror that she had boarded the wrong plane when she woke up in Benidorm instead of Paris. Jem Maybank arrived at Leeds Bradford Airport at five o’clock last Saturday morning [22nd June] after planning a short city break in Paris, France.
After going through security smoothly, the 30-year-old walked towards the right gate of Paris Beauvais Airport, where staff scanned and read her boarding pass.
Jem got on the plane and was confused when she discovered that her seat number 34A was not there but she says that the cabin crew told her that this can sometimes happen when the aircraft is moved. She says even when she heard the flight was two hours long, instead of the usual hour, she shrugged it off and put it down to turbulence.
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After reassigning a seat, Jem says she didn’t hear the announcement and fell fast asleep for the entire flight. It was only when she woke up and saw the palm trees and mountains outside as they landed that she realized she had accidentally boarded the wrong flight – to Alicante.
The property worker admits she had never been to Alicante before and all she knew about it was that it was ‘Benidorm’ – as it is the airport used by Britons traveling to the famous holiday spot.
Ryanair blamed Jem for the error and ‘it was the responsibility of all passengers to ensure they board the correct aircraft’.
Jem, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, said: “I was in a bit of a mad holiday rush. I was looking for the gate to Paris Beauvais. I saw it was gate 6 or something, but this was from a distance away. I walked towards the gate and just sort of waited in the queue.
“The staff scanned my boarding pass, the QR code, and they read it. They let me straight through the gate. I didn’t see the board or anything, I don’t think I was paying attention to be honest.
“I had seat 34A and this wasn’t there. I showed it to a member of the cabin crew and said ‘can you help me because I don’t have a seat’. She just said ‘sometimes that happens when we transfer the t -aircraft around but luckily no show’.
“She gave me seat 27 so I thought ‘fine, I’ve got a seat, cool’. I sat on the plane and I couldn’t really hear the announcement. They must have done one saying ‘the fly this to Alicante’ but I didn’t hear it.
“I fell asleep, woke up and saw mountains and palm trees and thought ‘this is not like Paris’.”
Jem waited until everyone had left the plane before speaking to a member of the Ryanair cabin crew at the end of the plane. The staff helped her arrange a flight later that evening but she still felt confused about how it happened, speculating that she may have misread the gate number as six instead of eight.
Jem said: “I waited until everyone got off the plane and he was like ‘hey, so, I’m not meant to be here, I’m meant to be in Paris’. She was like ‘how did you not understand?’ .
“I was going through the Alicante border control thinking ‘I don’t want to be here, I’m in a hotel in Paris’. I’ve never been to Alicante either, but I know all that it’s Benidorm. Decided they fly me out that was good. I don’t know how it happened
“Number 6 looks very similar to number 8 from far away too so I think that’s what happened. Who knows? We’ll never know.”
At 11pm, Jem finally arrived in Paris, Beauvais but had to take an hour bus ride into the city center where his hotel was. She is now urging other holidaymakers to pay more attention at the airport and listen to all safety announcements – even if they find them ‘boring’.
Jem said: “Alicante was much better than I expected. I went to see a castle. I was there for seven hours. When I got to Paris I just wanted the best I left the hotel and thought I have no time to lose so I went to see my site and shop.
“I can’t believe it happened. My advice to other holidaymakers is to stop being on your phone in the airport. Pay attention. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed and stressed in an airport but try to relax.
“When you get on the plane and they make the safety announcements, just listen to what they say. It’s so boring waiting in queues and all that but that’s what you get. Try and keep an open mind as well because things can change at the drop of a hat.”
A Ryanair spokesman said: “This passenger had booked to travel from Leeds Bradford to Paris on Saturday, June 22, but went through the wrong gate and instead boarded a flight to Alicante.
“All passengers have a responsibility to ensure they board the correct aircraft. There are a number of touch points that inform passengers of the aircraft’s destination, including gate signage and announcements before each flight departure.
“On arrival in Alicante, this passenger informed staff that they were on the wrong flight and Ryanair immediately arranged for the passenger to be accommodated on the next available flight to Paris, which was scheduled to depart Alicante later the same day (June 22).”
