Couple Accidentally Manage To Board Wrong Plane And Land 800 Miles From Home
A couple of holidaymakers accidentally boarded the wrong Ryanair flight home, leaving them stranded in Spain.
Elise Mallia, 33, and Jessy Jezequel, 41, were on their way home from a much-needed holiday in France when they found themselves 800 miles away from the UK.
After boarding the plane in Marseille, the pair did not realise they were flying to Madrid – rather than Stansted – until it was too late.
Elise said: "An hour into our flight, Jessy said he thought he heard a flight attendant say Madrid, but we thought he had dreamed it.
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"But after that we started realising all the flight attendants were speaking Spanish.
"When we asked, they told us we were going to Madrid - and we had no idea how that was possible."
The couple assumed their boarding passes had to be incorrect after having them scanned three time before the flight, but when they checked, they were clearly marked to Stansted.
"We were baffled and so were the flight attendants," she said.
"We got home in the end, but we still have no idea how it happened.”
After passing through security at Marseille, the pair headed towards what they thought was the correct gate.
Elise said she swore she saw 'Madrid' on the neighbouring gate to theirs and even made a joke to Jessy that they would be continuing their holiday in Spain.
"We were panicking and tried to explain to the staff that we weren't supposed to be in Spain," Elise said.
"Everyone thought we were crazy at first - until we showed them our boarding passes.
"How did nobody notice our boarding passes, or notice there were two extra passengers on the flight?
"Surely you shouldn't be able to get on the wrong plane without anybody noticing!"
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "Mr. Jezequel and Ms. Mallia boarded their flight from Marseille to London Stansted through the correct gate.
"However, these passengers then failed to follow the allocated route to the aircraft departing for London Stansted, crossed an unauthorised area and wrongly boarded a flight departing to Madrid.
"Both passengers were able to occupy the same seats they had booked for their original flight, as this flight was not fully booked, thus not alerting them to their error at this time.
"An announcement advising passengers of their final destination and estimated time of arrival is made before every flight departure – which should have alerted Mr. Jezequel and Ms. Mallia that they were on the wrong aircraft.”
Abbi Murray