Ryanair passengers to Zagreb locked in Stansted corridor: plane leaves without them, but with their luggage

Twenty-three passengers missed their Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Zagreb as they were left locked in an airport corridor – only being released when they began shouting and banging on the walls to be let out.

The incident happened on Monday, 2 January, at London Stansted Airport when 23 passengers for Ryanair flight FR2190 to Zagreb filed into an L-shaped corridor down an escalator after showing their boarding passes and passports at the gate.

But after the corridor was locked at both ends, they became concerned, allegedly banging on the walls and screaming for help, before setting off the fire alarm to be rescued.

But by that point, the flight, operated by Lauda Europe Airbus A320 registered 9H-LAX, had already departed on time at 10:30 – with all the passengers’ bags on board.

After around 30 minutes, someone pulled the fire alarm at which point a member of staff arrived and asked them what they were doing stuck in the corridor.

The passengers were put in a nearby hotel overnight and put on the next Ryanair flight FR2190 at 06:00 on Tuesday morning, 3 January. This flight was operated by Boeing 737-800 registered EI-EFK and departed at 06:19 (UTC). The 23 delayed passengers arrived in Zagreb at 09:20 (UTC+1) after a two-hour flight, 19 hours and 40 minutes behind their scheduled arrival.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “Due to a human error by handling staff at London Stansted Airport, a small number of passengers could not exit the pre-boarding area doors and regrettably missed their flight to Zagreb [on 2 January].

“The error was soon realised however the flight had already departed.

“Ryanair provided affected passengers with overnight accommodation and moved them on to the next available flight.”

Source: ITV, Flightradar24