Man Flies Next to Vomit After Airline Refuses to Clean It

Passenger accuses Ryanair of forcing them to sit next to vomit due to lack of cleaning crew in London.

A passenger aboard a recent Ryanair flight out of London Gatwick Airport (LGW) is calling foul against the airline, claiming the flight crew forced him to sit next to vomit. BBC News reports Noel O’Hare, 24, was forced to deal with the mess while aboard Ryanair Flight 113 from LGW to Dublin Airport (DUB) on Sunday, August 16.

According to O’Hare’s account of the incident, posted to Facebook, he found an uncleaned pile of vomit next to his seat when he boarded. A picture posted via Twitter shows a heap of papers on top of the supposed vomit was, including paper towels, wrappers and air sickness bags. When O’Hare asked a crewmember if it could be cleaned, he claims they would not comply because there was no cleaning service available at LGW for the low-cost carrier.

@Ryanair boarded flight FR113, looking forward to next 1.5hrs looking at vomit, was told will NOT be cleaned #filth pic.twitter.com/W4FItJlVPs

— Noel (@noelohare) August 16, 2015

“Me and my friends were disgusted really,” O’Hare told BBC. “There was a smell of [the vomit].”

O’Hare claims that the airline has only posted an apology on Facebook and has made no further effort to reach out. Despite the episode, O’Hare told BBC that he would be willing to fly aboard Ryanair again, assuming the airline better addressed the situation in the future.

In a statement to BBC, the airline apologized for the situation and justified their handling of the incident:

“We sincerely regret this incident which was caused by a shortage of cleaners at Gatwick Airport, which would have delayed the return flight by more than one hour,” the airline told BBC News. “The cabin crew blocked off the row of seats in order to minimize any delay to the return flight, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused.”

[Photo: Noel O’Hare, Twitter]