A woman has described as 'completely horrendous' her experience of having to share a hotel room with a stranger after her flight was cancelled.
Maria was flying from Santander in Spain to Dublin last Sunday.
She says Ryanair pulled the flight last-minute when passengers were already boarding the plane.
She told Lunchtime Live this was after another previous delay.
"We at the beginning were delayed two hours... we did passport control, we were boarding and in the very last minute we were told that the flight was cancelled.
"At that stage it was 12.30am at the airport, we were all very tired and panicking - because it was midnight, and we didn't [know] what was going to happen, or where we would end up sleeping."
Maria says about two hours later, the passengers were sent to a number of different hotels.
"When we arrived to our hotel, we were being told that Ryanair only booked 15 rooms - we were more than 40 people.
"The hotel said that we don't have any other option than to share a room with another person from the flight.
"The one who didn't fly with any friend or couple... we ended up sharing a room with a complete stranger".
And she says she was 'lucky enough' to share with a nice woman she met in the queue.
"We all were complaining because a lot of people were travelling alone.
"I actually was lucky enough to find a nice girl, who was happy to share the room with me.
"But what happened if I wouldn't have found anyone else: I wouldn't be feeling comfortable to sleep with someone that I don't really know.
"The bed was like a huge bed that wasn't even divided - it was two single beds that were together".
Maria says it was "completely horrendous".
"It was 2.30am, and we're supposed to have the first flight - we were told - it was maybe Monday 9am.
"Then it was delayed until 10am and then it was delayed until 11am.
"So we ended up only sleeping three hours".
In a statement, Ryanair says it 'sincerely regrets' what happened.
"In the rare event of an overnight delay/cancellation, accommodation is sourced for passengers who cannot return to their own home that night.
"Ryanair never requests that passengers share a room and this is not Ryanair’s policy.
"Regrettably, on this occasion there was an error between the hotel provider and the airport handling agent who requested the rooms.
"Ryanair was unaware that this passenger was asked to share a room with another passenger and had we been aware we would have sourced alternative accommodation, or had the passenger sourced their own accommodation, we would have reimbursed their expenses.
"We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to this passenger and a member of our customer service team will contact them directly," the airline adds.
