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According to reports from multiple sources, 192 flyers were denied boarding to Ryanair flight 4408 on April 14. The airport was completely devoid of security screening staff even after passengers began check-in. The breakdown in coordination between air service and Chalons Vatry Airport (XCR) operations led to the jet departing without a single traveler on board.
The airport is a small regional field outside of Paris and was ill-equipped for the operational crisis. According to the Traveler, families with children and even elderly travelers were stranded at the airport until late hours as different departments from both Ryanair and Vatry Airport worked together to place each flyer on a new departure to Morocco.
Flight 4408 to Marrakech, Now Boarding: Nobody
Under the law of the European Union and international aviation regulations, it was impossible for Ryanair to board the passengers on flight 4408 without a formal inspection and screening. The absence of any staff members from SECURUS, the company that serves Vatry Airport, meant that there was no choice except to send the plane on its way. The empty jet itself arrived at Menara International Airport (RAK), in Marrakech, almost two hours late, according to FlightAware.
If 9H-QBW had waited for security staff at Vatry, it would have missed its landing slot in Marrakech and grounded hundreds of other passengers waiting for subsequent flights. Budget airlines like Ryanair operate with very tight turnaround times. On top of that, waiting indefinitely for airport security would have caused the crew to time out on their duty day. That would mean they could no longer legally fly even if the passengers were eventually cleared.
Departing empty was deemed less expensive than the systemic cost of a multi-day disruption across several European bases. Meanwhile, the airport and landside staff with Ryanair did their best to attend to the needs of the unfortunate flyers. Fabrice Pauquet, director of Vatry Airport, gave this remark to FTN News:
“At the moment we opened check-in for passengers, there was no security team. We learned they were all on sick leave.”
What Happens to Grounded Flyers When the Jet Has Left the Tarmac?
The laws and protections under the European Union entitle passengers to recourse to ensure that they are compensated for a travel disruption like flight 4408 experienced. So far, there is very little public information that has been revealed about what exactly happened in the hours following the debacle at Vatry Airport. However, we can estimate based on terms under the codified regulations.
With Marrakech being over 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) from Chalons Vatry, the passengers would be entitled to a hundreds of Euros each in compensation. That money would come out of the pocket of the airline unless it was granted an extraordinary circumstances exemption. Ryanair could argue that the absence of the security staff at the airport was outside of their control, which would exempt them from paying out cash directly to the travelers.
On the contrary, customers typically carry the benefit of stronger protection and greater preference from the legal code. The court could easily argue that it is still Ryanair’s obligation under its ‘duty of care’ to ensure that the flyers are rerouted or fully refunded. Additional compensation could include vouchers for food and drinks or accommodation and other transportation expenses.
Bizarre: Bailiffs Seize A Ryanair Boeing 737 Mid-Turnaround Over Unpaid Debt
A Ryanair flight was delayed and a bizarre scene unfolded when bailiffs boarded the plane in Austria, seizing the aircraft over an unpaid debt.
Ryanair’s Ghost Flight Cleared for Takeoff: The Ops Logic
The reason why the plane was instructed to fly empty despite the massive sunk cost for the airline was to avoid disrupting the jet’s busy schedule that it cycles through in the region. The aircraft that was intended to transport the flyers on flight 4408 is registration 9H-QBW, which according to Planespotters.net was transferred by Ryanair to Malta Air in 2020 but continues to operate for Ryanair to this day. The jet in question is a Boeing 737-800, or B738.
From a carrier’s perspective, an aircraft is a high-cost asset that must remain in rotation to avoid a domino effect of delays across the entire network. Since April 14th, 9H-QBW has looped through the Mediterranean with stops across North Africa and Europe. The Boeing Next Generation 737 has made multiple stops in and around Marrakesh and the wider Paris area multiple times since the flight 4408 disaster.
