A real-life Home Alone scenario played out on a Ryanair flight from England to Malta earlier this month when an elderly man with a ticket to Gdansk, Poland was accidentally allowed to board.
According to The Telegraph & Argus, 75-year-old Pawel Lawreniuk, who was returning from a holiday visit with his daughter, departed Leeds Bradford Airport without issue on January 6 but became confused after arriving at Malta International Airport.
"I double checked the ticket, printed it and it said Gdansk. There was a call to me at work and I saw it was from Malta. I thought oh s**t, there's something wrong. I then saw someone writing on WhatsApp and saw the message," the man's 34-year-old daughter, Lucyna Lawreniuk told the publication. "I cried, I was scared-he was in a different country, a different place."
Fortunately, 35-year-old Kamilla Nikolas, who speaks Polish, was able to help the man book a flight home to Poland after overhearing a tourist information desk staff member say "I'm sorry sir but I don't speak Polish."
"I went to find out what had happened and said I speak Polish. He looked very nervous, confused and I asked what happened. It was hard to communicate with him because he was so confused," Nikolas told The Telegraph & Argus.
Lawreniuk eventually arrived home to Gdansk roughly 14 hours after he had originally departed Leeds.
"My father told me he doesn't want to come to me next year. He doesn't want to fly anymore," added Lucyna Lawreniuk. "If someone didn't come forward, I'm not sure what would have happened-he had no money, no phone, he can't really do anything alone."
Ryanair's handling agency Swissport said it's investigating how Lawreniuk was able to board the wrong flight.
"We are aware that a passenger was able to board an incorrect flight at Leeds Bradford Airport on Sunday, January 6," a spokesperson said. "The passenger had undergone all airport security screening before boarding the flight and had a valid passport which had been checked."
"We are investigating how this occurred and we are re-briefing all staff on procedure. We would like to apologize to Mr. Lawreniuk for the inconvenience caused."
The incident comes less than three months after the Irish low-cost carrier was criticized for not removing a racist passenger on a flight from Barcelona to Stansted.
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