Damn you Ryanair
So many things went wrong with this trip but it would take far too long to tell it all so I'll just stick to the airport bit.

A few years ago I was flying to Nimes in the south of France, quite chuffed with the super-cheap Ryanair tickets. I was a bit later than planned getting to Stansted and at checkin I was told to head straight through to the departure gate.

I was feeling marginally panicked the queue for security took forever but I made it to the gate where everyone was lined up waiting to board.

There was one flaw however. No plane. Don't worry the helpful Ryanair staff tell us, we'll just be leaving half an hour late. 30 minutes pass and the delay is extended to 1 hour. Another hour passes, still no plane. Finally about 4 hours after we were due to leave the plane arrives and everyone breathes a sigh of relief and gets ready to board.

Then comes the announcement, Nimes airport is now closed, the flight is cancelled. Arsebadgers. Everyone rushes back to the terminal to try and get alternative flights but due to other cancellations all available flights were booked up for the next few days meaning a crappy night's sleep on the terminal floor and a bus home the next morning.

Turned out there had been a small fire on a plane at Stansted in the morning meaning all flights out had been delayed. When I arrived at the airport the plane can only just have left for Nimes on its previous run but rather than tell us this they kept pretending everything was still fine. Bastards.

Apologies for length, I'm told it takes getting used to.
(The Sun King, Wed 8 Mar 2006, 15:58, Reply)