A family has been left £550 out of pocket after Ryanair officials bizarrely told them Scotland is ‘not a country’ and forced them to change their travel arrangements.
According to Edinburgh Live, Piotr Dziedzic and his family were held up by staff at Lisbon Airport, Portugal on 10 January.
The chef, who’s lived in Scotland for 17 years after emigrating from Poland, was informed the UK rules did not apply to his family if they were Polish.
His 13-year-old daughter Amelia was then ordered to take a test in the airport.
In a desperate bid to make their flight to Edinburgh, the family attempted to show Ryanair officials that Scottish rules did not require Amelia to take a test.
However, they were met with orders to follow the English rules instead.
The situation spiralled further into chaos when eldest daughter Karolina, 23, was grilled by a number of colleagues asking her who the Queen was and declaring that Scotland was not in fact a country.
Piotr, who runs the Lemon and Thyme restaurant in the town of Jedburgh, said: “Amelia was in fact born in Scotland therefore we do have to follow Scottish guidelines.
“Which other country’s rules could we possibly follow when entering our home in Scotland?
“Even a Google search to prove that Scotland is in fact a country was dismissed by them; it is incomprehensible we had to even argue this.
“Suddenly the initial problem that we are Polish wasn’t the cause of concern, but rather that we were following Scottish guidelines as opposed to English.
“Pointless excuse after excuse, as if looking to create a problem out of nothing.”
After the geographical mix-up, the family were forced to pay £550.96 to get the next flight to Birmingham, to then travel to Edinburgh, which was a further expense.
Piotr put in a complaint with the airline following the troubling ordeal, and accused staff of treating his family with ‘racism and a complete lack of professional behaviour’.
Ryanair has since apologised for the incident and confirmed a refund had been issued, with a spokesperson stating: "Ryanair does not tolerate any form of racial prejudice; all of our customers are treated equally.
"Having addressed this matter with our Lisbon Airport handling agents, it has been verified that this passenger was incorrectly refused boarding due to the handling agents’ misinterpretation of the travel requirements, believing that a pre-departure Covid-19 test was required for Mr. Dziedzic’s daughter to board this flight.
“We sincerely apologise to these passengers, and our Lisbon Airport handling agents have agreed in this case to compensate Mr Dziedzic.”
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Abbi Murray