Appalling treatment by Aer Lingus at Lisbon Airport
On Wednesday June 27th 2018 my wife and I checked in at Lisbon Airport for our EI 487 22:45 flight back to Dublin after a very enjoyable holiday. Our three cases were tagged and taken, boarding cards issued and we passed quickly through security. We had been told at check-in that our flight would be delayed because the plane leaving Dublin to collect us had not yet departed.
When we got to the departure gate the screen said that the flight would be leaving at the later time of 23:50. At this point it was about 22:30. I checked the Aer Lingus web site to see if the Dublin flight had left for Lisbon and it said that both the Dublin and follow-up return flights were cancelled. Yet the screen over the departure gate continued to display the 23:50 departure time.
There was no one around from Aer Lingus, or their agents, to tell us what to do. So we and many other passengers decided to make the long walk back through security and passport control to find our bags and wait for further direction. When we arrived in the baggage area, our bags were delivered on the carousel and an Aer Lingus agent handed each passenger a one-page information sheet. This stated that the flight had been cancelled "due to technical reasons". Our options, the sheet stated, were to re-book a new flight (subject to availability) or seek a refund - all via the Aer Lingus web site.
We were not offered hotel accommodation or even transport into the city centre. Some of us believed that Aer Lingus would send an extra plane to bring us back to Dublin and that it was better to wait anyway. This seemed logical since there was likely to be few Aer Lingus seats available on the two flights a day between Dublin and Lisbon, and there were a couple of hundred passengers to be accommodated.
Conditions for the passengers, some elderly or disabled, at Lisbon Airport were horrendous as we waited through the long night and well into the following day. No public seating whatsoever, bags to be kept close, only a six euro voucher each to pay for food and drink, and no further communication until next morning from Aer Lingus or their local agents. Plus we were all extremely tired and not in the best frame of mind to make rational decisions about what to do next.
The website offered a phone number from Portugal which would not be available until 9:00am the following morning. The printed page we received included a Dublin number which, when I tried it, led to a recorded message. I was lucky in that I could access my Android tablet via the free airport wi-fi service. I also had a couple of credit cards. But what about passengers without finance or computer access?
When the Aer Lingus agent's desk opened the following morning we had to queue to meet the single representative tasked with sorting out alternative routes back to Dublin. There would be no special flight to take us all home together. Most of us were put on flights from Faro, several hundred kilometres from Lisbon Airport. In our case, we got on an Aer Lingus flight from Faro which left about 24 hours later, i.e. Thursday evening. Others had to wait until Friday.
I am writing this, not to find out how to seek redress or compensation, that I can do myself, but to hear from anyone who had had a similar experience with Aer Lingus or another airline.
Sorry this post is so long but I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.
