Around 150 passengers heading to Liverpool John Lennon Airport have been stranded at Krakow Airport for more than 10 hours. The two-hour flight from Poland was scheduled to depart at 8:55am on August 3, but a series of increasing delays means passengers are now not expected to board until early Tuesday.
Flight details and delays
According to online flight tracker FlightRadar24, the Ryanair FR6359 service from Krakow to Liverpool was supposed to depart at 8:55am. This was delayed, and the estimated departure time as of 7:20pm is now 00:35am on Tuesday, August 4.
Text updates from Ryanair said the delay was due to "a minor technical issue with the aircraft earlier today," meaning a replacement aircraft had to be brought in.
Passengers' ordeal
Marcin Tkaczyk, 47, from Lancaster, is one of the affected passengers. He said: "We're waiting next to the gate. We could leave, but then we'd have to go through the whole procedure again, and there is nothing around the airport so there's really no point."
He added: "People are upset. There's no one in person here to explain things to us. We were supposed to arrive in Liverpool at 10:40am. Now we don't know. If we do depart at 00:30, it should be 3am."
Compensation and communication
Flight updates sent to passengers, shared with the ECHO, read: "Your flight FR6359 from Krakow to Liverpool is delayed due to a minor technical issue with the aircraft earlier today. We organised a replacement aircraft to operate your flight, but this caused a delay."
A further message said: "Since your flight has been delayed, please enjoy a snack or beverage on us by presenting your boarding pass to the cashier at participating outlets. We have issued one 17.00 PLN (Polish zloty) voucher per boarding pass in your booking. Please note refreshment vouchers cannot be redeemed onboard the aircraft."
Marcin, who was visiting Krakow on a weekend city break, noted the price of a coffee at the airport was 21.00 PLN. He said: "There's no one here we can talk to. We're just waiting and waiting. I'm guessing there's about 150 of us, almost a full plane."
He continued: "The last we heard from Ryanair was about four or five hours ago. I'm fed up and upset. Fortunately we haven't got children with us, but there are a few kids here managing with phones, smartphones and Nintendos."
Ryanair has been approached for comment.
