For passengers who boarded a Ryanair flight in Alicante on Sunday afternoon, what was scheduled as a straightforward three-hour journey to Cornwall turned into … an extraordinary eight-hour European odyssey – only to end up touching down right back on the tarmac in Spain where they had started.
The disruption began on flight FR2954, which departed Alicante-Elche Airport bound for Newquay in Cornwall. As the Boeing 737-800 made its approach to the English coast, severe 40-knot gusts from Storm Boelo battered the aircraft, exceeding maximum safe crosswind parameters.
After aborting the landing attempt and holding over the Atlantic, the flight crew was instructed by air traffic control to divert across the Irish Sea to Dublin Airport, where weather conditions were temporarily more stable.
A second failed landing attempt over Bristol
Upon landing in the Irish capital, Ryanair ground staff transferred the stranded Cornwall-bound travellers onto flight FR2955 to Bristol. The airline had arranged for emergency coaches to meet the aircraft at Bristol Airport and transport passengers the remaining 230 kilometres southwest to Newquay by road.
However, by the time the replacement flight reached southwest England, Storm Boelo had intensified further across the region. As the crew descended towards Bristol, heavy turbulence and violent wind shear forced the pilots to abort the landing for a second time during the same journey.
The aircraft climbed back to a cruising altitude of 27,000 feet (8,200 metres) to enter a holding pattern. With primary UK diversion aerodromes either operating at maximum capacity or closed due to the storm, Ryanair flight operations made the unusual call to redirect the plane all the way back to its original home base in Alicante – more than 1,500 kilometres south as the crow flies.
The aircraft finally touched down safely back on the Costa Blanca at approximately 2.15am on Monday morning, completing a multi-leg flight path that spanned Spain, Ireland, and Great Britain without successfully disembarking passengers in the UK.
Upon arrival back in Alicante, weary passengers were met by airline ground representatives and provided with hotel accommodation and food vouchers for the night.
Ryanair arranged replacement flights for the affected travellers on Monday afternoon once Storm Boelo had passed, finally bringing them to the UK nearly 24 hours after their original departure.
Operational sources noted that returning the aircraft to Alicante allowed the airline to keep the plane and flight crew in position for scheduled Monday morning services once European air traffic returned to normal.