BUDGET carrier Ryanair has paid nearly €5,000 to a passenger scalded by hot coffee during a flight to Mallorca.
The out-of-court settlement went to Denise Elliott, 63, from Hampshire who was travelling with a group of friends from Bournemouth.
En route to Spain, Denise ordered a coffee but was told by a cabin crew member that there were no protective cup lids.
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The registered nurse put the cup down on the folding table which then moved- spilling the hot liquid onto her thighs.
The injuries took eight months to heal.
Denise Elliott said: “Luckily, I know about first aid, but imagine if I was a child or an elderly person? Who knows what might have happened?”
Solicitors acting for her said Ryanair denied liability for the injuries but still made a payout before the issue was heard by a court.
There has been no comment from Ryanair.
Elliot said: “I put the cup on the table, but I don’t know what happened after that as, the next thing I knew, the coffee was all over my thighs.”
“The unstable tables are not suitable for their purpose,” she added.
She had strong words for the cabin crew who she said did not react correctly.
“As a nurse, I knew I needed a cold compress, but it wasn’t available and instead I was offered dry paper towels.”
“I was speechless. I thought the crew would have first aid training, but obviously they didn’t,” she stated.
When an attendant brought a special gel, Denise was not allowed to keep it to apply a second time.
“They told me it wasn’t possible and that the tube had to go back into the first aid kit,” she commented.
Denise said she did not file a lawsuit to get compensation but it was about the fact that ‘they did not really care about me at all’.
Her solicitor, Tracy Stansfield, said it was not an isolated case.
“In recent years we have heard about numerous cases of tourists who suffer burns in flights with the problem often caused by unstable folding tables.”
“For the sake of passengers, Ryanair and other airlines should act urgently,” appealed Stansfield
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