Ryanair explains flight diversion
Updated: Ryanair said this afternoon that a Malta-bound flight from Birmingham was diverted to Stansted after a cockpit warning light suggested a possible technical issue.
The passengers were disembarked and then resumed their flight to Malta on another aircraft, arriving this afternoon.
Ryanair's Stephen McNamara said :"Ryanair flight FR 3901 (Birmingham to Malta) on 26 Nov diverted to London Stansted after a cockpit warning light suggested a possible technical issue. The aircraft landed normally at London Stansted and to minimise delay, passengers disembarked and boarded a spare aircraft, which took off for Malta. Ryanair sincerely apologised to the passengers affected by the 1hr 30m delay to their journey."
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31 Comments
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Ann Dimech
Nov 27th 2012, 14:45
"passengers affected by the 1hr 30m delay to their journey" :(( I waited for a passenger on that flight which landed @ 2.20pm when the flight had to be 11.30am.....even got to find out that passenger had to purchase his own lunch....no compensation for delays even to give a sandwich....shame all we look for these days is our budgets when we rely so much on our travellers to be happy to return :((
Bertrand Gove
Nov 26th 2012, 22:22
Thank God for low-cost. Kieku grat lill-Air Malta din, kulhadd iwerzaq u jixgher ghax basta hadu z-zieda u basta nhallsu management barrani u basta rebranding, u basta haga u basta ohra. Fact is il-Maltin hlief jeqirdu ma jaghmlux. Dejjem irridu ngergru fuq haga jew ohra. Get on with life.
m farrugia
Nov 26th 2012, 20:53
why all this fuss? has airmalta never had a 3 hour delay on its flights? afternoon airmalta flights regularly have on hour delays
issa fil kaz we'll do as louis farrugia told us this week, that is limit competition, so that airmalta can continue flying and charging 400 euros per person per flight, as was the case before lccs came to malta.
Andrew Azzopardi
Nov 26th 2012, 19:37
Exactly a week ago, on 19 November, Ryanair Flight FR 3901 from Birmingham was also delayed, albeit for a shorter time than the 3 hours mentioned here. Passengers were informed that this was due to a computer malfunction on board the aircraft. I wonder if it was the same aircraft as today's.
Mr Oliver Cini
Nov 26th 2012, 18:15
I think that some people do tend to exaggerate, with Ryanair this year me and my wife we could afford to fly three times for holidays. whilst with Air Malta a flight to london in july would have costs us as much as all the 3 flights with return that we did this year. It's a shame that AirMalta is so expensive otherwise they have a good service and no one can question that.
GL Calleja
Nov 26th 2012, 19:02
Mr Cini don't forget that Air Malta has to pay those high salaries to their top management. The pilots just got a fat raise and they need to lease new aircraft pretty soon because the ones they have are becoming obsolete. But not to worry, the government just gave them 200,000,000 Million euros to bail them out. Too bad that bail out money came at the expense of the TAX PAYER. No subsidies?How sad
Eric Cordina
Nov 26th 2012, 19:16
Air Malta's fleet is not obsolete. The oldest aircraft was off the production line in early 2004. Far from obsolete. Then again who are we to stop you talking nonsense GL Calleja.
R. Caruana
Nov 27th 2012, 06:38
Point remain that as Mr.Cini said, the pricing model is makes it practical for most Maltese to travel and such to them it is godsend, for anyone to pretend to do away with this model to accomodate AirMalta archaic model is simply mindboggling. It's already enough that Ryanair's operation is being made difficult with the same aim in the mind of some.
John J Cauchi
Nov 26th 2012, 17:22
Let's be frank, no if's or buts. Safety first. The rest can wait.
I admit, Ryanair planes are not the most comfortable, do not offer the best in-flight service or fly at the most convenient time. But without Ryanair or Easyjet competition we would for sure be still paying €400 to fly to London and how many can afford that today.
C Cassar
Nov 26th 2012, 17:48
Why are you paying €400 to London? Air Malta has regular flights for less than €160 all inclusive of tax, baggage and seat reservation plus refreshments.
Mario Brincat
Nov 26th 2012, 18:58
@C Cassar
John J Cauchi is right! If Ryanair and Easyjet did not include Malta in their route schedule, Air Malta will surely charge us €400 for a return ticket to London and even now they still do as I always check Air Malta's website before I end up buying the tickets from the former airlines.
Joe Borg
Nov 26th 2012, 19:43
@C Cassar .... are you using the correct website to get flights with €160?
Gillian Snook
Nov 26th 2012, 17:10
Well done Ryanair, it's a shame people still like to complain when the right decision is taken.
Jeremy Gambin
Nov 26th 2012, 17:32
My wife complained- because a 3 hour delay was called a 1.5 hour delay(perhaps to avoid compensation) and that no drink was offered - in fact due to the 3 hr delay more people were buying food & drink than usual making the waiting time to be served even longer. Of course its safety first and we will keep on using Ryan Air but one must call a spade a spade and respect its clients.
Claire Busuttil
Nov 26th 2012, 18:03
@gambin- you`re wrong an airline is bound to give compensation, if the delay is of more than 14hrs.Check EU rules
Jeremy Gambin
Nov 26th 2012, 18:14
Busuttil- the ticket states 'for delays of over 2 hours check the website etc; I am not after compensation- just a bit of respect towards clients & one's intelligence
Gillian Snook
Nov 26th 2012, 18:18
Jeremy, I fly Ryanair and Airmalta quite often and always have a contigency plan ie nibbles and a bottle of something. After being caught out by delayed flights from the '70's to present day (and being an ex Girl
Guide !!!) I like to be prepared, but I do feel sorry for your wife, I know how annoying it can be.
Mario Agius
Nov 26th 2012, 18:44
@ Jeremy Gambin Just thank God they had a spare aircraft. Your wife was flying low-cost and you cant expect them to start giving out free stuff!!
Louis Borg
Nov 26th 2012, 16:27
Since passengers have to pay extra for the slightest thing, I assume that Ryan Air will charge for the extra flying time !!!!!
Jeremy Gambin
Nov 26th 2012, 16:27
i have used Ryan Air many times and was usually satisfied ;but this month our group's flight to Dublin was brought forward by some 7 hours affecting one's work leave etc; My wife was on board today's flight from Birmingham and once the fault/delay was due to a Ryan Air plane then the least they could have done was give out some extra drinks etc to make the 3 hour delay (yes 3 hours) more bearable
Paul Borg
Nov 26th 2012, 16:13
Well done RYANAIR. please don't abandon our routes. 90% of Maltese have had their holidays thanks to your low costs.
C Cassar
Nov 26th 2012, 17:46
Where did you get the 90% figure from. Do you have a link please? No, I didn't think so. Please stop making up random numbers in the hope of getting a useless point across.Ryan Air flew only 27% of passengers in and out of Malta International Airport as reported last week in the ToM.
T Mifsud
Nov 26th 2012, 16:10
Interesting how a 3hr delay, confirmed by all passengers in the footage, Ryanair sees it as half that. What's the reason?
Mr l Azzopardi
Nov 26th 2012, 16:55
even if it was 3hrs .. considering the situation I wouldn't complain...safety first.
Charles Micallef
Nov 26th 2012, 16:09
..................and that explanation is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but folks....!
Marc Cassar
Nov 26th 2012, 15:29
AIR MALTA - Please note....
This is how passengers should be treated - ONLY 1 &1/2 hour late... and an apology!!!
Mr Stanley Fenech
Nov 26th 2012, 15:41
Marc, do you really think that Air-Malta can have a spare aircraft in every airport, and in other ones in close proximity of their routes?
It was a case of being at the right place at the right time for Ryanair, as otherwise it would have been the same as for all other airlines.
jm busuttil
Nov 26th 2012, 15:43
@ Marc Cassar
Please note.....
You are being unfair and unlogic. Ryanair have ample aircraft to spare which are standing by at airports.
AiMalta has to have an option free due to back to back journeys and these options are mainly during night time.
GL Calleja
Nov 26th 2012, 15:53
Mr Cassar Air Malta has nothing to do with this incident. If I happen to be flying on any airline, including Air Malta, and that cockpit light comes on, I want to land safely and then wait until they fix that aircraft or find another one to replace it. Sometimes it is not so convenient to find another aircraft available on demand as in this case. Safety first before inconvenience.
S. Camilleri
Nov 26th 2012, 16:05
Ryan Air just did the right thing ... It will be game over for it the moment it does not act the way it did when the people saw a warning light in the cockpit.
However Air Malta have nothing to do with this. It reacts in exactly the same way with the difference that it has to wait for a replacement plane or forward passengers onwards via another airline.
Lino Busuttil
Nov 26th 2012, 19:37
Int bis serjeta?I already read that the statement issued by Ryan Air is incorrect and secondly safety has no time limit. These passengers were lucky they hopped on an other aircraft with 3 hours delay (quoted for advertisement as 1.5hrs). and low cost airlines do not put extra aircraft on the tarmac (otherwise they are would not be low cost) they were just lucky.
Please choose the reason of your report below: