From Spain to Ireland and back: Inside the eight-hour flight ordeal caused by Storm Boelo

A Ryanair flight from Alicante to Newquay turned into an eight-hour ordeal as Storm Boelo battered the route, causing a sequence of diversions and aborted landings.

The incident began with flight FR2954, a Boeing 737-800, departing Alicante-Elche Airport for Cornwall. Severe gusts up to 40 knots as the jet approached the English coast exceeded the aircraft’s crosswind limits, prompting an aborted landing and a hold over the Atlantic.

Air traffic control redirected the aircraft to Dublin Airport for temporary weather relief. After landing, passengers were transferred to flight FR2955 to Bristol, with emergency coaches arranged to carry them the remaining 230 kilometres to Newquay.

Storm Boelo intensified over the UK, and as FR2955 descended toward Bristol, the crew faced heavy turbulence and wind shear that forced a second abortive landing. The plane climbed to 27,000 feet and entered a holding pattern.

With UK diversion options constrained by capacity and storm conditions, Ryanair redirected the aircraft back to Alicante, more than 1,500 kilometres away. The plane landed back on the Costa Blanca around 2.15am, and passengers received hotel accommodations and food vouchers while the airline reorganized onward travel.

Ryanair later scheduled replacement flights for Monday afternoon as the storm subsided, ensuring those affected could reach the UK, though the original journey did not progress beyond Spain and Ireland on that day. The decision to return to Alicante also kept the aircraft and crew ready for Monday’s schedule when air traffic resumed normal operations.