High Peak couple's holiday dashed by error at airport

A Whaley Bridge man was stopped from boarding his Ryanair flight when no-one turned up to help him onto the plane.

Dan Kirkham, 22, missed his £400 three-day trip to Madrid with girlfriend Bea Adrio, 20.

Cerebral Palsy-sufferer and wheelchair user Dan had requested assistance to board the flight to the Spanish capital.

However the wheelchair assistance - provided by an independent company OCS - didn’t show up in time.

When the lift that attaches to the plane never arrived the pair asked Ryanair staff to hold the flight but claim airline workers refused.

Bea, of New Mills and Dan were planning to spend the first day of their three-day trip with her brother.

They had been offered a replacement flight for the next day - which they refused as Bea’s brother would have been working for the remainder of their trip.

The couple say Ryanair had refused to refund them but Ryanair claims it told them to seek an online refund.

Bea, a support worker for people with learning difficulties, said Dan felt ‘badly let-down’.

She said: “He’s suffered with cerebral palsy all his life and he loves travelling but now this has happened he feels like he’s lost trust in airlines to get him on-board.

“He definitely won’t travel on his own now.”

A Ryanair spokesperson said wheelchair services were operated by OCS and ‘OCS are responsible for this service and any problems with it’.

An OCS spokesperson said: “We have fully investigated the incident. Unfortunately, we acknowledge that the service to Mr Kirkham fell below our quality standards on this occasion, due to human error.”