EasyJet denies woman boarding for Italian holiday so someone else can take her seat

Exclusive: 'This was due to one seat on the aircraft being unusable and all other seats being used,' airline says

A 20-year-old student was turned away from her easyJet holiday flight to Sardinia so that someone else could sit in her assigned seat.

Ellen Marandola and her travelling companion, Ken Liu, had spent £283 each for return flights from Stansted to the Sardinian capital, Cagliari. They had confirmed reservations to fly out on Friday 3 August and return three days later, staying in Airbnb accommodation.

The pair arrived in good time for the flight and checked in at the Essex airport. They were assigned seats 1A and 1B. But at the gate, Ms Marandola says she was asked to wait because her seat was broken.

The airline later said that, in fact, the broken seat was 7A. But instead of the passenger who had been assigned to it being offloaded, he was instead moved to Ms Marandola’s seat. The airline says she was chosen because she was deemed to be the last to check in at Stansted.

Ms Marandola, a student at Imperial College London, was told to wait at the gate in case there were any no-shows.

Under European air passengers’ rights rules, before an airline can deny someone boarding against their will, staff must seek volunteers. While easyJet says that gate agents made an announcement to ask for volunteers to be offloaded, neither Ms Marandola nor Mr Liu were aware of any such appeal being made.

After the plane was fully boarded, Mr Liu said he wanted to leave the aircraft to be with her and get another flight together. But he says he was told that if he chose not to travel, easyJet would not provide him with an alternative flight.

After refusing Ms Marandola a place on the plane, easyJet claims she was escorted back “landside” to the customer service desk. But she insists she was simply told to head to gate 30, where a member of airport staff told her to follow signs for returning passengers.

“She was crying on the phone to me, not knowing where to go,” said her mother, Michelle Marandola, who returned to the airport to meet her.

“She was not treated sympathetically at all. If they had walked her back, sat with her and helped her find a flight, she would have gone.”

As soon as an airline denies boarding, the law requires passengers to be told of their entitlement to a replacement flight. Despite several options being available which would have enabled Ms Marandola to reach Cagliari the same evening, she was told she would need to fly to mainland Italy and stay overnight before travelling on the next morning.

The European Union regulations also stipulate that compensation – in Ms Marandola’s case, of €400 (£355) – must immediately be offered. Her mother said: “There was absolutely no mention of compensation other than being handed a piece of paper to contact for a refund of the flight.”

The first they heard of the entitlement was when they contacted The Independent the following day.

In a statement, the airline said it was “sorry that Ms Marandola was not able to travel the flight to Cagliari on 3 August.”

It added: “This was due to one seat on the aircraft being unusable and all other seats being used. As Ms Marandola was the last passenger to check in at the airport, we unfortunately could not accommodate her on this flight.

“Our customer service team at the airport offered alternative flight options to her, including with other airlines. However Ms Marandola told them that she did not want to take one of these flights.

“We also explained the compensation she would be entitled to and will be contacting her to arrange this.”

Last year easyJet ordered a couple off a holiday flight from Luton to Sicily because the airline had sold more tickets that there were seats available on the aircraft.

In that case, easyJet failed to tell the couple about their rights to compensation and alternative flights.