A pregnant woman who had to sleep outside a Spanish airport after being told her cabin baggage was too large to go on a Ryanair flight has said it was 'the worst experience of her life'.

Shauna Fox was one of a number of people the queue while boarding the flight from Lanzarote to Dublin last Friday July 19th.

A number of people were taken out of the queue when boarding the flight from Lanzarote to Dublin on Friday July 19th.

Ms Fox, who is seven months pregnant, told Lunchtime Live she believes her bag was compliant with Ryanair’s cabin baggage policy.

"We got up to the gates and they told us that we couldn't board the flight because our bags were too big," she said.

"I measured it; my bag fit perfectly fine."

Ms Fox then asked for a measuring tape and was asked to wait.

"We were told to wait, which we were made to believe was for this measuring tape as they let other passengers in," she said.

"By the time the other passengers were on the plane your woman came up to us and says, 'No measuring tape'... and she told us we can't get on the plane".

'I'm seven months pregnant'

Ms Fox said she was then told boarding had closed on the flight.

"We were all arguing with her saying, 'We'll pay then if that's the issue, we just want to go home'," she said.

"She said the gate is closed and we were all panicking then.

"I said, 'I'm seven months pregnant, I need to go home' and [I was told] 'That's not my problem'".

'It was so dehumanising'

Ms Fox said the stranded passengers were then told they would have to sleep outside the building as the airport was closing.

"We had to sleep outside the airport on the concrete ground, where we felt so unsafe and so scared that we had to move into a car park and build a wall with all our luggage," she said.

"We were outside, we were terrified - it was so cold as well that night. We were given no access to water, there was no toilets.

"I had to pee at the side of the airport down a street with no toilet roll, no way to wash my hands, no facilities whatsoever.

"It was so dehumanising; it was so embarrassing – it was the worst experience of my life".

Ms Fox said they got into the airport at around 4am and had to pay for another flight to Dublin with Aer Lingus.

The Dubliner said she does not understand what the issue with her bags was – as the airline had no problem carrying them from Ireland to Spain in the first place.

'Slept in-between cars'

Also on the show, caller Fiona said she and her 12-year-old son were also removed from the queue.

She said she has previously travelled with the same bag on several airlines.

"I tripled-checked my luggage size before I left my home and it was 100% perfect," she said.

"I have used the same suitcase on many different flights [to] different destinations with no problem.

"At Dublin, my suitcase was the perfect size and I even have a thing for weighing it.

"I weighed it just to make sure it was under 10kg and it was - I had no problem.

"[The airport worker in Lanzarote] pulled me aside and said, 'No, it won't fit in'".

Fiona said she and her son slept in-between cars outside the airport.

"Myself and my 12-year-old son had to sleep outside in-between cars to keep warm because the wind in Lanzarote at night time would cut through you," she said.

Fiona said Ryanair should run the same set of rules at every destination it flies to.

"Their policies and procedures need to be implemented globally and reflect equally at each airport," she said.

"We got through Dublin no problem so there should not have been an issue coming back.

"We were just made feel like criminals," she added.

Consumer advice

Consumer journalist and host of The Home Show Sinead Ryan said EU legislation can help people in these situations.

"We normally talk about EU261 when we talk about flights that are cancelled or flights that are delayed," she said.

"There is also a clause in it which comes under the heading of ‘denied boarding’.

"Denied boarding is usually where somebody is deemed to be dangerous or maybe drunk or whatever - that was clearly not the case in any of these circumstances.

"However you can invoke it if you arrive to the gate, if you have a confirmed reservation, the correct documents and time to comply with check-in and boarding."

Sinead said the case should be taken to the Spanish Aviation Regulator AESA as it "comes under the denied boarding clause".

Ryanair statement

In a statement to Newstalk, Ryanair said the passengers were not denied boarding.

“These passengers were not ‘denied’ from boarding the flight," the carrier said.

"These passengers’ cabin bags exceeded the permitted dimensions, and therefore they were required to pay a standard gate baggage fee," it said.

"These passengers refused to pay the standard fee at the gate and missed this flight.

"The gate agent advised these passengers that boarding for this flight was closing four times before it closed, after which time these passengers requested to pay for their oversized bags.

"When boarding is closed, a legal report of the manifest is signed and sent to the captain, therefore boarding cannot be reopened," it added.

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