Several passengers on a delayed flight between Rome Ciampino and Charleroi Airport this Tuesday reported their story to Belgian television station RTL-TVI.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 registered EI-DPV supposed to leave at 09:30, was delayed for 2 hours. At 11:30, the boarding was initiated but the 150 passengers had to wait for another 1h30 minutes inside an overheated aircraft without air conditioning nor drinks. One worried passenger told RTL that: “Old people and young children were also on board and they didn’t receive water“.
Elisabeth, another passenger said: “Stuck in the plane, without air conditioning in the middle of the tarmac and 40 degrees. The airline is still selling bottles of water“.
Another passenger told RTL that free bottles of water and sandwiches were distributed free of charge, a confusing situation as other passengers on the flight assured RTL they didn’t receive anything.
After spending 1h30 in the aircraft, the 150 passengers were redirected to the terminal. At 14:30 the boarding started again. Elisabeth told RTL that the passengers were back in the aircraft, still without air conditioning under 38° C in a confined space.
The aircraft finally took off at 15:30 and landed at 17:10 at Charleroi Airport.
A Ryanair spokesman explained to luchtzak.be that:
This flight from Rome Ciampino to Brussels Charleroi (1 Aug) was delayed ahead of take-off due to a minor technical issue with the aircraft. Customers were provided with refreshment vouchers, and engineers cleared the fault and returned the aircraft to service, and it has since departed to Brussels Charleroi. Ryanair sincerely apologised to all customers affected by this delay.
Source: RTL (Un avion Ryanair pour Charleroi immobilisé en plein soleil à Rome: “Il faisait près de 40 degrés dans l’appareil”)
Un avion Ryanair coincé en plein soleil à Rome: “Aucune eau n’a été distribuée” https://t.co/jqjq3fgSU4 pic.twitter.com/xf9x5Ju0pY
— Veille infopol ?? (@PolBegov) August 1, 2017
