Aer Lingus is to pay out almost €16,000 damages to a young Irish passenger who was "surrounded by armed police" at Charles de Gaulle airport and held for four hours in airport immigration.
The story of 10-year-old Limerick schoolgirl Serena Sexton's traumatic experiences at the Paris airport was outlined to the Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Esmond Smyth, yesterday.
Mr Conor Bourke, counsel for Serena, who is now aged 13, said she had been put by her mother, Mrs Christine Sexton, on a late-afternoon Aer Lingus flight E1434 at Shannon Airport on July 4th, 1999, in the care of two flight attendants.
Mr Bourke said she was to have been met in Paris by her older sister, with whom she was going to spend a holiday.
At 9 p.m. that night Mrs Sexton had received a telephone call from her daughter in Paris asking the whereabouts of Serena.
When she was told Serena should be at the airport further inquiries had been made and Serena had been located in the immigration department of Charles de Gaulle airport.
She had spent the previous four hours in immigration and was found to be extremely frightened.
"She had been surrounded by armed police in the immigration department and was found hysterical, tremulous and crying," Mr Bourke told the court.
Mr Justice Smyth heard it was the early hours of the next morning before Serena's sister was allowed to take her from the airport.
Mr Bourke said Mrs Sexton had checked with Aer Lingus before booking Serena's ticket if it would be all right for Serena to fly alone to Paris and had been told that the airline operated an unaccompanied-passenger service for young flyers.
Mrs Sexton had taken her to Shannon where Serena had been put in the care of two Aer Lingus flight attendants.
Mrs Sexton had been assured that they would look after Serena's interests and ensure her safe passage and arrival to where she was to have met her sister in accordance with the airline's code of practice in relation to unaccompanied minors.
Mr Bourke said Serena did not have a passport with her, a matter which should have been checked by Aer Lingus ground staff before allowing her to board the plane at Shannon.
She had been left alone in the airport and taken into the immigration department where she had been surrounded by armed police.
He told the court that medical evidence revealed Serena had suffered significantly. She had been stressed and had been traumatised by the unfortunate event.
Mr Bourke said that for the duration of Serena's stay in France she had considerable difficulty sleeping and had very frequent nightmares. She had been very reluctant to separate from her sister in France and was so upset she had to have her sister fly back home with her on August 1st, 1999.
He told Judge Smyth that Aer Lingus had failed to abide by its policy on unaccompanied young flyers after having assured Mrs Sexton they would took good care of them.