Ryanair passengers’ ‘nightmare’ experience at Birmingham Airport who say ‘I may never fly again’

A disabled passenger has said he may never fly again after a “traumatic” experience navigating Birmingham Airport. Tessa Miller, who uses a mobility aid, claims the “chaotic” scenes at the airport led to her missing her flight and becoming “stranded” on her return flight when her pre-booked lift “failed” to arrive.

Mrs Miller, from Derby, has fibromyalgia which causes severe pain and mobility problems. The 47-year-old says she and her nine-year-old son, who has autism and ADHD, were made to feel like a “problem” by staff at Birmingham Airport.

Mrs Miller, her son and daughter, 24, were due to travel to Agadir, Morocco, from BHX on May 28 but claim she missed her flight when Ryanair closed the gate “early” – allegations denied by the airline. Tessa had to pay the extra £1,000 to make alternative travel arrangements and spoke to BirminghamLive to raise awareness of the extra challenges disabled people face when travelling.

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“When we got to Birmingham airport it was chaos,” Tessa told BirminghamLive. “When we got to the Special Assistance desk, we were told it would be easier for us to navigate security alone because they had so many people waiting.

“My daughter was with me so we decided to go through security ourselves but it was very stressful, people were walking over us. After we passed, we went straight to the toilet and then went to the gate.

“When we got there, we were told the gate was closed and we weren’t coming. I was so shocked and had a major panic attack.”

Tessa claims she arrived at the gate 25 minutes before the 5.55am flight – as airport staff told her. When approached, Ryanair denied the claim saying: “The gate for this flight from Birmingham to Agadir (May 28) did not close early. This flight was scheduled to depart at 5.55am and the gate was scheduled to close 30 minutes earlier at 5.25am. but it remained open for a further 12 minutes until 5.37am, at which time this passenger had still not presented himself at the gate.

“It is the responsibility of each passenger to report to the boarding gate at least 30 minutes prior to scheduled departure as clearly described on the passenger’s boarding pass and travel itinerary as well as in our T&Cs, which are agreed upon at the time of booking.”

In response, Tessa said: “There was a miscommunication from Special Assistance telling us the gate would close 20 minutes before departure, which I was there for. If we had Special Assistance to the gate this would not have happened. it happened.”

On her return to Birmingham Airport from Agadir, Tessa said she was left “stuck” on the plane when “there was no ambulift” available to get her off safely. She claims Ryanair staff encouraged her to “go down the stairs”.

“The lift was pre-booked but it wasn’t there because we arrived a bit early,” explained Tessa. “I was asked by the staff to go down the stairs, which I could not.

“I was told I would have to wait 40 minutes to get off the plane. I decided to stay on the plane because I didn’t want to take any chances, knowing full well that the plane would be flying again soon. Unsurprisingly, they succeeded. to find a lift afterwards.”

She continued: “I felt so unsupported. They would rather have me go down the stairs and risk my health than give me the help I needed. It made me so angry, to the point where I don’t know if I will ever travel abroad again.”

When contacted, a Birmingham Airport spokesman said: ‘Mrs Miller booked assisted travel at the airport using her own electronic mobility aid. While Ms. Miller checked in at the assisted travel desk before security, the rest of the trip through the airport was taken. independent.”

Regarding claims that her gate closed early, an airport spokesman said: “Our teams attempted to locate Ms Miller from 5.02am until 5.34am and made calls by name in the departure hall to find her and help her to her aircraft, but she. it did not show Mrs Miller exiting the departure lounge on our systems at 5.35 to head to the gate, which would not have been in time for the 5.37 gate closing”.

Based on claims she was stuck, the airport issued the following statement: “On Ms Miller’s return, our shuttle was in place at 2.12pm, well within our statutory SLAs, however again Ms Miller was marked as a no-show. We advise all customers. when using our assisted travel service to ensure they attend all meeting points to ensure a smooth visit through the airport.”

In response, Tessa Miller said: “How could I be a no show when I couldn’t move from the plane? He must have known what time I was arriving. Eventually I was able to use an ambilift, but the point is that I was expected to use the stairs even though it was not safe for me to do so.

“As a disabled passenger, you are invisible, insignificant and a problem for the staff. It is hard enough to deal with a disability day in and day out without people making it harder. There have been so many failures and who is responsible?”