Overview
- A Ryanair Stansted–Tirana service on June 3 was forced to divert first to Brindisi, Italy, and then to Thessaloniki, Greece, after storms prevented landing in Tirana, extending a planned three-hour trip to roughly nine hours.
- Passengers report that long time on the tarmac exhausted supplies of food and drinking water and that onboard sales were briefly suspended while the aircraft waited.
- Tensions boiled over during the second diversion when crowds shouted at the flight deck, an air hostess physically restrained a heavily intoxicated traveller, and Greek police boarded and reportedly authorised some people to disembark.
- Ryanair says the delays were caused by ‘unexpected and extraordinary’ weather and has defended its handling, while at least one passenger says an automated compensation claim was rejected and has been escalated to AviationADR.
- The incident highlights how weather, onboard resource limits and alcohol-fuelled behaviour can combine to disrupt flights and leave passengers seeking redress through aviation dispute channels.