EasyJet Flies Elderly Woman to Wrong Country

Even though the disabled woman’s boarding pass said she was bound for Athens, she was allowed to board an EasyJet plane to Malta. (Photo: Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

EasyJet and Manchester Airport are promising to take corrective measures after allowing an 84-year-old woman who was left unattended in a wheelchair to take the wrong flight to Malta instead of Athens, even though her boarding pass had the correct destination and her baggage was flown there.

Argyro Aretaki, who speaks no English, was supposed to receive special assistance to her plane, which was arranged by her son, Dimitri Aretakis. Instead she was unattended in Terminal 1 near adjacent gates with similar flight numbers: one to Malta, one to Athens. The flights were scheduled to depart within 10 minutes of each other on May 18.

“When she realized no one was going to take her to her plane she decided to get up and follow the crowd,” Dimitri Aretakis said.

Argyro Aretaki, 84. (Photo:  Dimitri Aretakis)

The woman was allowed to board the wrong plane to Malta despite the boarding pass to Athens, and when what she thought was her seat was occupied, the flight crew simply found her a different one rather than realize the mistake.

Aretaki wound up 550 miles off course in Malta, with her baggage in Athens – flying baggage without the bag’s owner on the plane is against airport security rules.

“My mother was not aware that she was in Malta rather than Athens,” Aretakis said. “But when no one was at the airport to collect her she realized that something was wrong. She became very distressed until another airport user took her to the information center.”

This was the second piece of strange news regarding EasyJet and England in recent days. Supermodel Kate Moss was removed from an EasyJet flight that landed in London’s Luton airport for unspecified disruptive behavior.

As for Aretaki, airport staff in Malta found her son’s number and called him after she landed. Rather than take a flight straight to Athens that night, Aretaki was forced to spend the night in Malta, fly back to Manchester the next day, then fly to Athens.

During this time Aretakis said he couldn’t get a direct phone line to someone on EasyJet’s staff for help, instead having to call through the main customer service number.

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said a member of its staff took the woman to the wrong gate, “an error we are taking very seriously. As part of our investigation we plan to introduce additional procedures such as additional signage and wayfinding for assistance staff.”

Meanwhile, an EasyJet spokesperson said, “The procedures in place for boarding passengers with reduced mobility were not followed. Although this was an isolated incident, we have put in place corrective measures to prevent any reoccurrences. We have refunded the cost of the flight and awarded compensation.”