Ryanair passengers argue with staff after air traffic control fault leaves them 'stranded' on Spanish island

Ryanair passengers were pictured arguing with airport staff after many flights were cancelled and they were stuck in Gran Canaria.

A 'technical issue' yesterday (28 August) led to flights to and from the UK being grounded while plenty of travellers were looking to head home on the last bank holiday weekend before December.

While the issue was later identified and fixed it wasn't before a plethora of planes had their journeys cancelled and left thousands of passengers stuck.

Some flights were cancelled and others struck with severe delays, with a pilot saying that because of the fault, people were 'having to manually process every flight plan' instead of allowing the system to do it for them.

On the receiving end of the delays were the many passengers who had been holidaying in August and likely hoping to make use of the bank holiday to add an extra day to their time away.

Sky News

However, they were instead left stuck at airports far away from home and looking at boards which told them all routes back were either cancelled or delayed.

A group of Ryanair passengers stuck on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria took up the issue with airport staff.

Footage of heated discussions between passengers and airport staff has emerged on the internet, including clips of passengers saying Ryanair had an obligation 'to get us back home'.

They said they'd been given the advice to book alternate travel with another airline and then claim the money back from Ryanair, but argued that 'you will not get that money back, I promise you'.

One passenger was spotted telling other Ryanair customers not to try and book alternate travel, insisting that the responsibility lay 'in their [Ryanair's] hands'.

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Some passengers told Sky News they'd been stuck in 'absolutely shocking' condition where they had no food or accommodation and there was 'not enough' water.

One said they'd first been told that their flights had been delayed before getting to the gate and hearing that the plane had actually been cancelled with 'zero chance' of an emergency flight to get them home and the next direct flight over a week away.

Passengers also claimed that the flight which could have taken them home to Edinburgh did in fact leave the airport, just with no passengers on board.

Ryanair staff were seen telling passengers that the cabin crew had worked over their recommended hours.

While the 'technical issue' that caused these issues has since been declared fixed, there is still the lengthy process of getting everyone where they need to be.

Monday's chaos could impact travellers for days to come.

LADbible have contacted Ryanair for comment.