RYANAIR PASSENGERS travelling from Lanzarote to Edinburgh were reportedly asked to pay €3 for bottled water during a 12-hour ordeal that saw them stuck on a Spanish airport runway in a sweltering 30C heat.
Holidaymakers were said to be furious after their Edinburgh-bound flight, which was initially delated for five hours, the Daily Record reports.
To make matters worse, the plane was subsequently diverted to Bordeaux as the cabin crew onboard had worked over their allotted hours.
Things then boiled over onboard when passengers were asked to pay as much as €3 for water, despite the mounting delays and humid conditions.
According to the Daily Record, the airline only decided to being providing water free of charge after a young baby fell ill onboard and had to be taken off the aircraft and away in an ambulance with the child’s family.
Passenger John Rafferty told the newspaper: "The lady sitting next to us asked for water after we had been sitting on the plane in scorching heat for three hours. The stewardess said she wasn't authorised to give it out.
"A while later they started selling water and non-alcoholic drinks for €3. I had to pay €3 for water and €5.50 for a panini.
"It wasn't until we landed in Bordeaux nine hours later that we were offered free water.
"We understand that things sometimes happen but the way it was handled was so poorly."
The flight finally touched down in Edinburgh at at 11.30pm on Friday, September 27 –12 hours after it had been originally due to take off at 11.20am.
In a statement responding to the complaint, Ryanair attributed the problems and delay to “adverse weather”.
A spokesperson said: "This flight from Lanzarote to Edinburgh (27 Sept) was regrettably delayed ahead of take-off due to adverse weather in Lanzarote, before departing to Edinburgh later that day.
"Ryanair sincerely apologised to customers for this delay, which was completely outside of our control."
