Dublin Aer Lingus passengers 'dumped' outside Spanish airport in middle of the night

Aer Lingus passengers have claimed they were "dumped" outside a Spanish airport in the middle of the night, forcing them to fork out hundreds of euros for taxis to reach their intended destination.

Flight EI 0174, which was scheduled to fly from Dublin to Alicante on Saturday night, was instead diverted to Valencia, a city at least 180km away. The airline initially informed passengers that they would be transported by bus to Alicante, but later announced that no vehicles were available, reports the Irish Mirror.

Adding to the frustration, travellers were then told that taxis would be provided, but there weren't enough to go around, leaving many to pay up to €400 out of pocket. Shauna Fagan revealed that her parents were among those stranded at the airport and had to shell out €350 to get to Alicante. She claims they received no assistance from Aer Lingus.

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She said: "They were then told that their ground partner Avia would provide surface transport to Alicante."

"At almost half one Spanish time, I got another message from my dad saying 'no assistance. We are all outside airport waiting on buses to show up. I'd say we be here a while'."

This was quickly followed by another message: "Shortly followed up with a 'it's amazing when things like this happen no one around from Aer Lingus at all or anyone else I'd say there's about 200 of us waiting outside'."

Receipt for taxi for 173.4km journey after Aer lingus flight to Alicante was diverted to Valencia

Another disgruntled passenger took to Twitter to vent their frustration, tweeting: "Aer Lingus flight diverted from Alicante to Valencia. Every passenger dumped outside the airport. No rep. No advice. Disgraceful."

Aer Lingus has apologised to passengers after a flight bound for Alicante was diverted to Valencia due to severe thunderstorms. In an email, the airline informed passengers that buses would be provided, but high demand meant some travellers had to find their own way.

The airline said: "Aer Lingus flight EI0574 Dublin Alicante was forced to divert into Valencia Airport on Saturday due to thunderstorms and adverse weather conditions, as was the case for many other airlines."

They also assured customers that any expenses for alternative transport to Alicante would be covered, saying: "Due to high levels of demand on bus and taxi services at Valencia, some customers may have secured their own transportation to Alicante, and these costs will be reimbursed."

The airline also added separately "due to a technical issue, flight EI0589 from Malaga to Dublin was unavoidably delayed and subsequently cancelled".

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