Ryanair Passengers Hold Tarmac Protest Over Bag Refusal

Around 30 Ryanair passengers staged a tarmac protest after flight officials decided the plane was overweight – and refused to allow them to travel with their luggage.

The incident took place at the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport in Hungary before the flight to Gran Canaria in the Spanish Canary Islands was able to take off.

Protesting passengers on board Ryanair flight FR2968 objected to the decision and stood in front of the plane to prevent it taking off.

According to reports, the flight was delayed by nearly four hours.

 

Canarian passenger Fernando told local media: “We were informed on the plane that there would be a delay of about half an hour, then we were told to get off the plane.”

The low-cost airline informed passengers that there was an excess weight problem and they proceeded to remove all the bags from the hold.

Passengers were informed that they would have to travel ahead of their suitcases.

However, around 30 passengers refused to travel to the holiday destination without their luggage and their protest led to the arrival of the Budapest Local Police, which caused the lengthy delay.

Fernando said: “We returned to the airport and waited almost four hours before the plane was ready to take off.”

The Spaniard added: “There were a lot of Hungarian people travelling to Gran Canaria for their holiday, while around 15 of us were from the Canary Islands.”

According to reports, 30 protesting passengers stayed behind while 158 travellers agreed to fly without their bags.

Fernando confirmed: “Nobody arrived with their cases, only the things we had in our hand luggage.”

Unions representing Ryanair cabin crews in Spain, Portugal and Belgium will strike for two days on 25th and 26th July, while Italian crews will strike for one day on the 25th.

The dispute is over pay and workloads.