John Paton and his wife, Sheila, arrived at Newcastle Airport when they were told the car parking service he had paid for was “not in operation at the moment”. Despite buying his airport parking days earlier with Ryanair, John Paton and his wife, Sheila, were met with puzzled faces instead of the meet and greet service by Looking4Parking he had paid for. 

The couple, both 69, arrived in good time at Newcastle Airport and were set to head to Malaga in Spain.

John claims he called the number on the parking voucher he had been sent by Ryanair – only to find there was no-one to answer his call, or collect his car.

The second time he called, he claims a recorded message told him the service was “not in operation at the moment”.

The driver, from Monkseaton in north Tyneside, said it was lucky they arrived early, otherwise they would have missed their flight.

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Ryanair operates 19 routes from Newcastle Airport and has defended Looking4Parking, saying the problem was with the car park operator, which was experiencing “operational challenges”.

A Ryanair spokesman told Express.co.uk : “The car park operation is legitimate. ‘Looking4’ work with the operator at multiple UK airports.

“Looking4 stringently checks all operators and as soon as they became aware that the car park at Newcastle was experiencing operational challenges, they were immediately removed from sale and refunded any customers who were inconvenienced.

“Furthermore, as soon as Ryanair becomes aware of any customer issues, we then immediately raise these with Looking4, who take the necessary action.

“Mr. Paton was refunded £49.67 on 15th of March for the amount paid, and a second payment of £66.99 was made on the 31st of March which covered the additional payment the customer needed to pay at the airport.”

However, John claims it took nearly a month, and around 20 emails, before the initial cost of £49.67 was refunded.

A spokesperson for Newcastle Airport said: “We recently became aware of an illegitimate parking provider claiming to offer a parking service at Newcastle International Airport.

“Since then, we have worked closely with the car park consolidators to remove this unofficial product from the market to protect our passengers.

“If passengers are looking to book car parking at the airport, we recommend they book direct through the airport’s website or via the Airport call centre to ensure they receive an official on-site product.”

Express.co.uk have contacted Looking4Parking for a further comment.



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Post source: Express