'Ryanair dumped me in the wrong country and told me to make my own way'

A distraught man has recounted his ordeal of being stranded in the wrong country when his Ryanair flight got diverted almost 200 miles from his intended destination, with the saga still leaving him £400 out of pocket months later.

Xavier de Vally, aged 37, along with his friend James, embarked on a flight from Manchester Airport to Gothenburg in Sweden for a gig on August 8. Xavier detailed their turbulent journey, where the plane was moments from landing in Gothenburg before unexpectedly being diverted to Copenhagen.

Stranded in the Danish capital, the two were informed they'd need to navigate to their ultimate location themselves, despite Ryanair's assurance to reimburse all reasonable expenses.

"We actually were at the point of landing, literally coming down onto the runway, but we weren't allowed to land," Xavier recollected. "I don't know why that was, there was no bad weather or anything like that."

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The sudden diversion to Copenhagen, nearly 200 miles off course, was apparently due to a night-time curfew at Gothenburg Airport. Xavier, hampered by an ankle brace post-surgery, was deprived of the assistance he had arranged for when he got off the plane owing to the unscheduled airport change, reports the Manchester Evening News.

After James assisted his friend indoors, they received a text message informing them that 'no onward transport available' and they would need to arrange their own travel from the airport. The message even incorrectly directed them to Venice instead of Gothenburg, James claimed.

He said it was 'way after midnight' when they finally cleared passport control, and at that late hour, they struggled to secure a hotel for the night. The duo ended up trekking to three different hotels on foot despite Xavier's injury until they found somewhere to stay. They managed to get a train to Gothenburg the following day.

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"We did get there and we did have a really nice time in the end," he reflected. "But when we got home I put through the claim for the expenses which came to just shy of £400 for both of us. Ryanair have just been taking forever to process it."

He expressed frustration over having engaged in nine webchats with Ryanair without obtaining any clear information regarding his refund.

A Ryanair representative said: "This flight from Manchester to Gothenburg (8 August) was delayed ahead of take-off due to ATC 'staff shortages' which was outside Ryanair's control. The flight was diverted to Copenhagen Airport, due to maintenance on the runway at Gothenburg Airport."

"Despite Ryanair's efforts to arrange accommodation for passengers, availability was limited, and passengers were advised that they could also arrange individual accommodation and that they could claim back expenses on Ryanair.com. This passenger submitted an EU261 expenses claim on 13 Aug and is awaiting approval. While we endeavour to pay valid expense claims as soon as possible, some payments are currently taking longer than usual due minor processing delays."

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused as result of these ATC 'staff shortages' and maintenance at Gothenburg Airport which are entirely beyond Ryanair's control."