Boy, 6, left in tears on flight after Ryanair ‘double-booked’ his specially reserved window seat

A little boy who is a nervous flyer was left in floods of tears after a Ryanair IT glitch meant his specially reserved window seat was given to another passenger.

Ryan Bandli, six, was inconsolable the entire flight home to Manchester from Budapest after he realised a woman was sitting in the seat he’d chosen.

His mother, Adi, said the window seat helps her ‘very reactive’ child to keep calm in the air, allowing him to lean his head against the window. 

She paid an additional fee when booking on the budget airline’s Polish subsidiary, Buzz to reserve the seat especially.

But upon boarding the plane, Mrs Bandli noticed a woman sitting in Ryan’s seat. When confronted, the stranger revealed she too had been assigned the window seat and refused to move.

Ryan Bandli, six, was inconsolable the entire flight home to Manchester from Budapest after he realised a woman was sitting in the seat he’d chosen

‘Ryan was really upset and anxious and he cried,’ Mrs Bandli told The Mirror. ‘He didn’t understand how this could happen. We sat separately and it was really stressful.’

He was provided an aisle seat as a consolation, but spent most of the flight crying in his father’s lap. 

‘My poor child was crying. People gave him sweets and were so kind,’ Mrs Bandli said. 

The incident occurred in August, and Mrs Bandli claims she is still waiting for an explanation and compensation from Ryanair.

The airline said Ryan’s seat was not double booked, instead stating the ‘misunderstanding was the result of an isolated IT glitch’.

Because the flight was fully booked, there were no other window seats available to offer the family, meaning they had to be separated. 

Upon getting on the plane, Mrs Bandli noticed a woman sitting in Ryan’s seat. When confronted, the stranger revealed she, too, had been assigned the window seat and refused to move

The spokesman said: ‘Buzz regrets the inconvenience caused to Ms Bandli and her son and a member of our customer services team will contact them directly.’

Mrs Bandli said she heard from a representative who initially said the incident happened because they’d booked an emergency exit row, and Ryan was too young to safely sit in the allotted seat.

But Mrs Bandli insisted they definitely were not placed in an emergency exit row.

MailOnline has contacted Ryanair for comment.