Ryanair has criticised a French airport after a plane bound for Scotland was forced to U-turn on the runway after it was discovered a passenger in a wheelchair had been left behind.
The budget airline has blamed Bordeaux Airport for the blunder, branding the incident “unacceptable”.
Ryanair said the airport failed to provide the passenger with “the special assistance required” and claimed that crew had been “misinformed” that all passengers had been boarded when that was not the case.
Bordeaux Airport has been contacted for comment.
Flight FR 6700 was due to depart from Bordeaux to Edinburgh at 10pm on Tuesday.
The plane had started to taxi on to the runway for take-off when the error was discovered.
The pilot then returned to pick up the missing passenger.
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Ryanair said it was working with the airport to ensure “this does not recur”.
In a statement, the airline said: “It is unacceptable that Bordeaux Airport failed to provide this passenger with the special assistance required to board this flight from Bordeaux to Edinburgh despite Ryanair paying for this service.
“Not only did they fail to board this passenger, but they misinformed the crew on this flight that all passengers had been boarded when in fact this passenger had not, and the aircraft began to taxi on to the runway.
“Ground staff at Bordeaux Airport realised their error and notified the crew who returned to stand in order to board the passenger.
“It is abysmal that Ryanair customers requiring special assistance are being let down by Bordeaux Airport and we are working with them to ensure that this does not recur.”
