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News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
Shocking moment Ryanair passenger sobs and hits door after being stopped from boarding
This is the shocking moment a female Ryanair passenger was left sobbing on her knees after being banned from boarding her flight. The tearful woman was left hitting a door in an emotional outburst as airport staff reportedly told her that her hand luggage was too big. Chaos unfolded at Sofia Airport in Bulgaria when the woman was left screaming, sobbing and venting her frustration over Ryanair's strict baggage policy. A packed flight was due to board a bus to their plane when the female passenger was stopped in the queue. Nikolay Stefanov, a witness to the shocking ordeal, said the woman was told she had to pay for extra baggage because her luggage didn't fit in the holdall. The woman refused to pay as she explained her bag could in fact fit. Footage shows her trying to force her bag into the luggage rack by slamming it in. The bag does eventually fit but the staff still refuse to let her board. She then breaks down in tears as she pleads with a member of the border police and takes a video of the bag which is now wedged inside the rack. Dozens of the passengers were seen watching on from behind a glass door which was all that separated them from the weeping woman. Determined to board, she then starts to bang on the door and ask for help as Mr Stefanov films the sad ordeal. More staff quickly surround the woman as her begging grows louder. At one point she even drops to her knees before placing her hand on the door as tears roll down her face. Mr Stefanov said the whole situation 'escalated quickly'. 'She was pleading with us not to leave, but we were threatened that the entire flight would be cancelled if we didn't get on the bus, so passengers became frightened and left,' he said. Mr Stefanov said many onlookers were also shocked by how the staff treated her with next to no compassion. It has also been claimed that another passenger stood behind the woman in line was removed from the flight. A Ryanair staff member allegedly said that they couldn't let him on because 'reopening the gate risked the woman trying to get on the bus'. The viral footage soon caught the eye of Bulgaria's parliament. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Grozdan Karadjov has reportedly ordered an inspection of the airport's security cameras. Mr Karadjov is even said to have described the behaviour of employees in the video as 'outrageous', reports. He has assured people that the main ground operator will be found and given the 'highest fine' and a verbal warning. In response, Goldair Handling Bulgaria insisted their employees acted 'professionally and without any physical contact with the passenger'. The handling company released a statement to BNT News that read: 'All rules regarding passengers' baggage, its permissible size and the fees payable for baggage are determined solely, entirely and unilaterally by the airlines. 'Goldair Handling Bulgaria OOD is solely obliged to monitor compliance with these rules by the airlines. 'This also applies to hand luggage, as Goldair Handling Bulgaria OOD is obliged to monitor the dimensions of this baggage and collect excess baggage fees. '[Staff] acted professionally and without any physical contact with the passenger.' It comes as Ryanair's CEO is considering increasing bonuses paid to staff for spotting oversized luggage. The budget airline currently pays staff approximately €1.50 (AU$2.66) for stopping passengers with oversized bags from boarding the aircraft. Currently, staff bonuses for doing this are capped at €80 (AU$143) a month. Passengers who are unlucky enough to get caught out by the airline's staff are charged a fee of up to €75 (AU$134) for bringing luggage that is larger than they paid for while booking their journey.
The Sun
3 days ago
- The Sun
Shocking moment Ryanair passenger sobs & hits door after being stopped from boarding as her ‘hand luggage was too big'
THIS is the shocking moment a female Ryanair passenger is left sobbing on her knees after being banned from boarding her flight. The tearful woman was left hitting a door in an emotional outburst as airport staff reportedly told her that her hand luggage was too big. 6 6 6 6 Chaos unfolded at Sofia Airport in Bulgaria when the woman was left screaming, sobbing and venting her frustration over Ryanair 's strict baggage policy. A packed flight was due to board a bus to their plane when the female passenger was stopped in the queue. Nikolay Stefanov, a witness to the shocking ordeal, said the woman was told she had to pay for extra baggage because her luggage didn't fit in the holdall. The woman refused to pay as she explained her bag could in fact fit. Footage shows her trying to force her bag into the luggage rack by slamming it in. The bag does eventually fit but the staff still refuse to let her board. She then breaks down in tears as she pleads with a member of the border police and takes a video of the bag which is now wedged inside the rack. Dozens of the passengers were seen watching on from behind a glass door which was all that separated them from the weeping woman. Determined to board, she then starts to bang on the door and ask for help as Nikolay films the sad ordeal. More staff quickly surround the woman as her begging grows louder. Moment Brit woman is dragged off Ryanair flight & thrown to floor after 'assaulting passengers and making bomb threat' At one point she even drops to her knees before placing her hand on the door as tears roll down her face. Nikolay said the whole situation "escalated quickly". He added: "She was pleading with us not to leave, but we were threatened that the entire flight would be cancelled if we didn't get on the bus, so passengers became frightened and left." Nikolay said many onlookers were also shocked by how the staff treated her with next to no compassion. It has also been claimed that another passenger stood behind the woman in line was removed from the flight. A Ryanair staff member allegedly said that they couldn't let him on because "reopening the gate risked the woman trying to get on the bus". The viral footage soon caught the eye of Bulgaria's parliament. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Grozdan Karadjov has reportedly ordered an inspection of the airport's security cameras. Mr Karadjov is even said to have described the behaviour of employees in the video as "outrageous", reports. He has assured people that the main ground operator will be found and given the "highest fine" and a verbal warning. In response, Goldair Handling Bulgaria insisted their employees acted "professionally and without any physical contact with the passenger". The handling company released a statement to BNT News that read: "All rules regarding passengers' baggage, its permissible size and the fees payable for baggage are determined solely, entirely and unilaterally by the airlines. "Goldair Handling Bulgaria OOD is solely obliged to monitor compliance with these rules by the airlines. "This also applies to hand luggage, as Goldair Handling Bulgaria OOD is obliged to monitor the dimensions of this baggage and collect excess baggage fees. "[Staff] acted professionally and without any physical contact with the passenger." It comes as Ryanair's CEO is considering increasing bonuses paid to staff for spotting oversized luggage. The budget airline currently pays staff approximately €1.50 (£1.30) for stopping passengers with oversized bags from boarding the aircraft. Currently, staff bonuses for doing this are capped at €80 (£70) a month. Passengers who are unlucky enough to get caught out by the airline's staff are charged a fee of up to €75 (£65) for bringing luggage that is larger than they paid for while booking their journey. 6 6
Times
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
What do police on the front line make of plans to stop the boats?
Nicolas Laroye, a veteran of France's border police, spent more than a decade patrolling the coast around Dunkirk in search of migrants. Now he shares the frustration of colleagues who have taken over what has become a near impossible task.'Of course we want to stop the migrants,' he said, as we sat in a cafe. 'But we know that they will keep trying and trying and that in the end they will all get through.'Times have changed since the days when those hoping to reach England lurked in small groups around the ports or the entrance to the Channel Tunnel hoping to stow away in the back of lorries. Back then, 20 years ago, there were far fewer of them and they always came quietly. 'In ten years I never experienced any violence. We didn't even need to handcuff them,' Laroye said. Now, most evenings, hundreds can gather at one of the wide beaches that line the 70-mile stretch of coast between Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer. Dozens are ready to board each dinghy, which often wait for them in shallow water: the so-called 'taxi boats'. When the police, often heavily outnumbered, try to intercept them, things can turn ugly in the time it takes reinforcements to come. 'Imagine a situation when you have 50 of them waiting to get on a boat,' said Laroye, 55, who for the past few years has been on secondment to Unsa, a police trade union. 'They have paid thousands of euros and can see the English coast in the distance in front of them, and three police officers turn up and try to stop them from getting on board. Often they will start pelting the police with stones. They have their shields but I know colleagues who have still got hurt. 'It can start when they are still walking down the road. Their aim isn't to hurt the officers. They just don't want to be stopped from getting to the beach.' Regular police — whether from the border force or units that are increasingly drafted in — are forbidden from speaking directly to the media. But they can make their feelings felt through Laroye and others seconded to the various police trade unions permitted to speak on their behalf. The impression they give is growing frustration among officers on the front line tasked with preventing migrants from crossing. There is also anger at accusations from Britain that they do not do enough to stop migrants, in part because of French operating procedures that have hitherto barred them from interfering with a boat once it is in the water, for fear of endangering those packed on board. Stopping the 'small boats' is certain to dominate President Macron's talks with Sir Keir Starmer during his state visit to Britain this week. The government appears to be pinning its hopes on plans by the French to change the rules, allowing officers to stop migrant dinghies even when they are at sea — provided they are within 300 metres of the coast. For this reason, Downing Street seized on footage shot by the BBC on Friday near Boulogne-sur-Mer showing police from the Compagnie de Marche, a specialist unit trained to deal with public disorder, charging into shallow water and slashing the sides of a dinghy. Onboard were dozens of scrambling migrants. No 10 called it a 'significant moment' that could have a 'major impact' on smuggling gangs. A further eight boats, carrying a total of 517 people, nevertheless made it successfully across the English Channel on that day alone, according to Home Office figures. This took the numbers so far this year to a new record of just over 20,000, a 50 per cent surge over the same period last year, despite Starmer's vow last July to 'smash the gangs' and 'stop the boats'. • Labour's first year: is Keir Starmer keeping his promises? The French interior ministry declined to confirm a change of tactics. A spokesman said six officers, 'detecting immediate danger', intervened at about 8.30am French time in a 'proportionate manner' to 'avoid any risk to the passengers', adding: 'No one was injured or required emergency care.' It followed a similar incident on June 13, further north near Gravelines, when two officers also from the Compagnie de Marche waded into waist-deep water to prevent migrants boarding a waiting 'taxi boat'. The local prefecture cited a 'need to safeguard human life', which it said 'takes precedence over all other considerations'. The scenes raised eyebrows among police themselves. 'Officers are weighed down with kilos of kit,' said Laroye. 'If they get knocked over by a wave they may not be able to get up.' Even the slightest drop of corrosive salt water will destroy the gun that French police routinely carry strapped to their waist. Authorities already appear to have been quietly changing their rules of engagement in recent years, according to French media reports, although it has failed to make a dent in the numbers. Internal memos issued by the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea dated November 2022 and 2023, seen by the television station TV1, authorise forces to intervene at sea to control 'taxi boats', provided they are less than 200 metres off the coast and do not carry more than than three people — presumably the smugglers waiting to pick migrants up. • The asylum seeker who became London's £12m migrant smuggler Police officers who will have to implement the new rules have poured cold water on British hopes that they will make a substantial difference. There is a difference between slashing a boat in shallow water and doing so 100, 200 or 300 metres out to sea, according to Julien Soir, a police officer and official with Alliance Nationale Police, a rival union. 'If we want to intervene in this 300-meter range, we would have to have enormous resources,' he explained. 'You need boats, you need people who are trained, you need a lot of things.' Officers also fear they could face prosecution if migrants die as a result of their intervention. 'If you intercept a taxi boat and make someone fall out and drown, then you as a policeman will be held responsible,' said Régis Debut, a colleague of Laroye's at Unsa. 'The charities would have a field day', he added, in reference to vocal groups that champion the interest of migrants. Meanwhile thousands of migrants, largely from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa, continue to arrive on the French Channel coast where they sleep rough while waiting to cross. Most evenings, around 7pm or 8pm, columns of people can be seen walking from one encampment near Gravelines, apparently on their way to a meeting point in the dunes behind the beach that has been given to them by the smugglers. Often they will take a bus from a terminal in front of the nearby out-of-town shopping centre. 'A whole group of them will get on and then suddenly get off at a stop in the middle of nowhere,' a driver waiting there said. The boats leave from a different point each evening as the traffickers, part of what — with crossings costing up to €5,000 per person — has become a major multimillion pound business, strive to stay one step ahead of the police. The next morning those that have failed make the journey back to their tents. I encountered one such group on Friday, clutching flimsy life jackets. 'The police stopped us just as we were trying to board,' said one angry Iranian man. Similar scenes are repeated up and down the coast. Others are picked up by police, either on the streets or on buses, and taken in to have their identity checked and nationality established. Many, though, are from countries that refuse to take back their citizens and so are then released, giving them the chance to attempt the crossing again. @Peter_Conradi
Associated Press
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
AP PHOTOS: Panama protests have lasted 45 days and counting
ARIMAE, Panama (AP) — Protests have persisted in parts of Panama for a month and a half. They've covered a range of issues including the changes to social security and opposition to a security agreement giving U.S. soldiers and contractors access to some facilities in Panama. Authorities and protesters were injured Thursday in eastern Panama when border police tried to open a highway blocked in an Indigenous community. President José Raúl Mulino has said he will not reverse the social security changes, nor will he allow protesters to obstruct roads. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Washington Post
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Protesters and police clash in eastern Panama
ARIMAE, Panama — Authorities and protesters were injured Wednesday in eastern Panama when border police tried to open a highway blocked in an Indigenous community as part of monthlong demonstrations against changes to the country's social security system. Border police in riot gear launched tear gas and fired rubber-coated metal balls to disperse balaclava-wearing protesters firing rocks from slingshots and throwing Molotov cocktails.
