Tourists' fury after Ryanair flight failure

HOLIDAYMAKERS faced a long night at Tenerife Airport when a plane broke down and there was no-one around to fix it.

The Ryanair flight to Edinburgh Airport was due to take off on Monday afternoon but a technical fault left it grounded.

A Ryanair spokesman admitted the firm does not employ a local full-time engineer on the island, so passengers had to wait until an engineer was flown in from one of their its bases in Scotland, London, Dublin, Madrid or Rome.

Holidaymaker David Gorrie, of Parkhead Loan, said: "The flight was due in to Edinburgh Airport at 9:40pm but after a farce of information from Ryanair, over 150 holidaymakers were left to fend for themselves at Tenerife Airport. We were told to find our own accommodation and transport and come back at 9am the next day, when we were told we 'might get a flight home'."

Stephen McNamara, head of communications at Ryanair, said: "Passengers were provided with EU261 information and advised to seek accommodation, the receipts for which they should submit to Ryanair for refund."