RYANAIR HAS agreed to reinstate a flight on the day of Munster’s first away European Cup rugby game in October.
The airline had dropped the service without realising that the fixture was planned for that weekend and without notifying some fans.
Munster are due to travel to play Northampton for round one of the competition on October 10th and dozens of fans had booked flights from Shannon to Birmingham for the game.
However, Ryanair has reduced services on several routes from Shannon for the winter months, including Birmingham, in protest at the Government’s €10 travel tax.
The cuts on the Birmingham route will see the daily service reduced to just four flights a week while the Saturday schedule is one of those which has been scrapped.
Soon after the coming season’s Heineken European Cup fixtures were announced last month, Munster fans booked flights to Birmingham, departing on the morning of the game.
It now appears that while Ryanair had planned cutting the Saturday service, its scheduling department was not aware at the time that Munster were due to play in Northampton and that Birmingham airport was the closest and the most likely choice for travelling supporters.
Furious fans contacted Ryanair this week to vent their frustration and change their flights, travelling instead via Liverpool and London.
One fan, who posted a message on the Munsterfans.com online forum, said his flight was actually changed without him being asked first and that his return flight was less than an hour after he landed on the inbound leg.
The airline has confirmed, following calls from irate fans, that while the Saturday flight will be dropped for the winter months, it will reinstate the service on October 10th, so that supporters, who had been originally booked to travel, can still get to the game.
Airline spokesman Stephen McNamara said: “Ryanair is reinstating the Saturday, October 10th flight, to ensure Munster fans who were originally booked on this flight can travel to the Heineken Cup match. Ryanair will be contacting these passengers in the coming days.”
Munster Rugby Supporters Club vice-chairman Ian Buckley said yesterday: “Despite the inconvenience supporters have experienced as a result of this, we are glad that Ryanair will now reinstate the flights for match day.
“We would also hope that any flight changes which supporters have been subjected to can be reversed so that they can fly on their original booked flight,” he added.
“We would also expect that fans will not face any additional cost for any changes as none of this is of their doing.”