A 79-year-old Swedish woman, Lena, mistakenly boarded a Ryanair flight to Bologna, Italy, instead of her scheduled Easyjet flight to Berlin, Germany, last Thursday. The incident occurred at Copenhagen Airport, raising concerns about passenger safety and boarding procedures.

Lena arrived at the airport with ample time to check in her luggage and pass through security. She proceeded to the gate indicated on the information board. Upon arriving at the gate, she noticed other passengers were already boarding and hurried to join them. She failed to notice that the gate displayed “Bologna” as the destination.

Once on board, Lena observed Ryanair branding throughout the plane. Despite her confusion, she assumed a possible rebooking or a collaboration between Easyjet and Ryanair. She also attributed the longer flight time to a potential delay. It wasn’t until she arrived at the Bologna airport and saw the “Welcome to Bologna” sign that she realized her mistake.

Lena believes the airline should bear the responsibility for preventing passengers from boarding the wrong flights. Ryanair, however, maintains that it is the passenger’s responsibility to ensure they board the correct flight, pointing to the multiple information points available, including screens at the gate and loudspeaker announcements.

Copenhagen Airport has acknowledged the incident and stated that they are taking it very seriously. This incident follows previous security lapses at the airport, including an instance in September where an individual boarded a flight without a ticket.