Ryanair’s crew and passengers stranded at Malaga airport due to hurricane Leslie

Several flights departing from, arriving in or flying over Portugal have been disrupted by hurricane Leslie. The climatological phenomenon has caused heavy delays and cancellations in Europe’s all around the country, hitting Porto airport hardest of all. Out of the whole ordeal comes the story of six Ryanair flights that were diverted to Malaga airport. Crew and passengers were left stranded by the company and had to spend the night at the airfield.

The airline has stated that it was not able to find accommodations for its crew and passengers due to the fact that all hotels in Malaga were fully booked. The ensuing chaos was well documented and discussed all over social media. Peter Bellew, Ryanair’s COO, took to Twitter to double down on the argument that it was not the airline’s fault that they weren’t able to accommodate the stranded passengers and crew since there were no hotel rooms available whatsoever.

On Sunday morning, the day after the flights had to be diverted, Ryanair’s desk at Malaga airport became the stage for a chaotic scene. The passengers, screaming and demanding for a flight to their final destination, tried to keep other Ryanair flights from departing. The police had to be called to assist with de-escalating the situation. Two flights directly to Porto were scheduled for Sunday morning and the remaining passengers reached the Portuguese city either by bus or a late afternoon flight.

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