UK couple end up in MADRID instead of London after airline ticket blunder

A couple attempted to fly back to the UK from a holiday in France - and ended up 800 miles away in SPA after they got on the wrong flight.

Elise Mallia, 33, and partner Jessy Jezequel, 41, spent a day and night in Marseille to watch the football game against Nice.

They had their boarding passes scanned and then boarded the Ryanair plane, thinking they were heading back to Stansted airport.

An hour into the journey, they heard the flight attendant announce they would soon begin their descent - into DRID.

Upon arriving at the Spanish airport, the pair quickly alerted Ryanair staff and were put on another flight - and arrived back in London after an 1,000 mile detour.

They said they are baffled as to how their wrong flight blunder went unnoticed, despite their checked tickets stating London as their destination.

Elise, an estate agent, from Fulham, southwest London, said: "An hour into our flight, Jesse said he thought he heard a flight attendant say Madrid, but we thought he had dreamed it.

"But after that we started realising all the flight attendants were speaking Spanish.

"When we asked, they told us we were going to Madrid - and we had no idea how that was possible.

"We had our boarding passes scanned three times before boarding - they assumed the passes were wrong, but they weren't.

"We were baffled and so were the flight attendants.

"We got home in the end, but we still have no idea how it happened.

"It's not like getting the wrong bus - we literally ended up in a different country!"

Elise told how she and her French partner Jessy popped to Marseille for just one night for a football match, on March 20.

After watching the Marseille vs Nice game, the globetrotting pair headed back to the airport to catch their pre-booked flight back to Stansted.

They were due to fly from Marseille just before 3pm on March 21, so headed to what they believed was the correct gate when it was time to board.

Elise said she swore she saw 'Madrid' on the neighbouring gate to theirs.

She recalled even making a joke to Jesse that they should continue their holiday and go to Spain instead of returning to London - not realising that may actually be the case.

Elise said: "We must have had our boarding passes scanned about three times.

"Surely it must be quite hard to actually get on the wrong plane because of the security!

"Well, that was what we thought."

They did eventually make it back to Fulham - five hours later than planned.

Elise said: "We were panicking and tried to explain to the staff that we weren't supposed to be in Spain.

"Everyone thought we were crazy at first - until we showed them our boarding passes.

"How did nobody notice our boarding passes, or notice there were two extra passengers on the flight?

"Surely you shouldn't be able to get on the wrong plane without anybody noticing!

"It's not like getting the wrong bus - we literally ended up in a different country."

They said they have been unable to get in touch with Ryanair since the incident - and are still perplexed by how it happened.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "Mr. Jezequel and Ms. Mallia boarded their flight from Marseille to London Stansted through the correct gate.

"However, these passengers then failed to follow the allocated route to the aircraft departing for London Stansted, crossed an unauthorised area and wrongly boarded a flight departing to Madrid.

"Both passengers were able to occupy the same seats they had booked for their original flight, as this flight was not fully booked, thus not alerting them to their error at this time.

"An announcement advising passengers of their final destination and estimated time of arrival is made before every flight departure – which should have alerted Mr. Jezequel and Ms. Mallia that they were on the wrong aircraft.

"Upon arriving at Madrid Airport, these passengers then realised their error and Ryanair staff were notified of these misrouted passengers. Mr. Jezequel and Ms. Mallia were accommodated on a flight from Madrid to London Stansted later that day.

"It is each passenger’s responsibility to ensure they board the correct aircraft.”