Stuck for days

Vacation horror: 40 passengers stranded in Rome

Chaotic scenes unfolded at Rome Fiumicino Airport. Ryanair left the passengers in the lurch. The 40 Austrians had to wait more than two days for their departure.(Bild: Janice J.)

An eternal wait in the Eternal City - more than 40 vacationers from Austria were stranded at Rome airport for two days.

For more than 40 Austrians, a trip to Rome turned into an absolute horror: the first plane for the return flight with Ryanair to Vienna-Schwechat was due to take off on Wednesday evening, but was initially unable to take off due to technical problems. Every hour, the departure time was pushed back further and further.

We just want to go home. Never again Ryanair!

Janice J. (23), Angestellte aus Niederösterreich, ist verärgert

The passengers weren't taken to their hotel until 4am. The flight was also postponed again and again on Thursday and did not take place. For days we waited for a redemptive message, but there were always only false positives.

The passengers held out at the airport for two days waiting for their return flight to Vienna-Schwechat.(Bild: Janice J.)

"The situation is slowly escalating here. Families with their babies and small children don't know what to do, others had connecting flights or families waiting for them at home. Many of us had to work," said Janice J. from the Vienna area.

The 23-year-old from Lower Austria was at the end of her tether - or Italian. Complaints on the spot were pointless, the Ryanair counter simply lowered the shutters when Janice or her fellow sufferers marched up.

Friday at 2.45 p.m. she was finally supposed to return to Austria. But shortly before boarding the plane, boarding was postponed again - to 7.55 pm. "We deeply regret the inconvenience," said Andreas Gruber, Managing Director of Laudamotion, to the "Krone" newspaper.

The conclusion of the stranded travel group: "We just want to go home. Never again Ryanair!" The plane finally landed in Vienna at around 9 pm.