A bride who missed her flight after leaving her wedding dress at airport security has said she was forced to watch as staff took her bags off the plane before it left without her.
Katie Latham, 36, left a suitcase containing her wedding dress at Manchester Airport‘s security while on her way to Paphos, Cyprus.
The mistake ruined her hen do and almost cost the bride her perfect day after she ended up missing the Ryanair flight to her wedding destination.
The bride and her fiancé David Moore, 40, were instead forced to watch for 40 minutes as airport staff emptied the plane while their children cried hysterically.
The newlyweds from Moreton, Merseyside, have now slammed airline staff over their handling of the situation.
Katie Latham, 36, (right) and her her future husband David Moore, 40, (left) missed their flight to Paphos, Cyprus after leaving a suitcase at Manchester Airport’s security
The panic started after a voice over the tanoy announced that a pink suitcase had been left at security.
The bride quickly realised the case was hers and that she had forgotten to pick up her wedding dress while rushing through the airport.
Husband-to-be Mr Moore then rushed back to collect the case as the bride begged Ryanair staff to hold back the flight.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, the bride explained: ‘I said to her “we’re getting married, I’ve got to be in Cyprus three days before we get married, we can’t afford to miss this flight”.’
‘Please can you just hold the gate he’ll be back in a few minutes,’ Ms Latham begged after explaining the fiasco had the potential to ruin her wedding.
Airport staff, however, refused the bride’s pleas, as she was instead told that if her fiancé’s ‘not back in the next three minutes he won’t be getting on the plane.’
‘It’s my fault because obviously I didn’t pick up my bag as I went through security. It’s just the way they treated us,’ she said.
‘They didn’t show any sort of compassion to us at all to be honest.’
In the meantime, the family were forced to watch as staff emptied the plane so they could reclaim their luggage.
‘They made us wait and watch the plane – it was literally there in front of us – for 40 minutes while they took everyone’s luggage off and to reclaim our bags’ she said.
‘My kids were screaming, crying looking at the plane through the terminal window,’ the bride said.
The couple (pictured) were forced to watch for 40 minutes as airline staff took their luggage off the plane before it took off without them
The couple were then unable to catch another flight to Paphos until three days later, meaning Ms Latham missed her hen do.
The couple were, however, able to get married on 31 May, in what Ms Latham described as a ‘perfect wedding day’.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: ‘These passengers regrettably missed their flight from Manchester to Paphos (26 May) as they did not present for boarding on-time.
‘It is standard procedure that we close our boarding gates on time so that we can ensure an on-time departure and it is each passengers responsibility to ensure they present at the gate before it closes.’
A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: ‘Passenger safety is our number one concern and where unattended bags are concerned, we have strict procedures that need to be followed, regardless of the departure time of a passenger’s flight.
‘Having investigated, in this instance we are satisfied that all these procedures were followed and that every effort was made to try to help the passengers make their flight. Unfortunately, that was not possible on this occasion.
‘Our records show that queuing times at security on the morning in question were below 15 minutes.
‘If the passengers have any specific concerns about their experience at the airport, they should contact our customer service team.”
