Wheelchair tennis duo's trip to Spanish tournament delayed after Ryanair cancellation

Scott Smith and his doubles partner Mahboob Hussain have jetted out to Madrid for the tournament which starts today.

However, because their flight from Birmingham to the Spanish capital yesterday lunchtime was one of the many scrapped by the budget airline, they had to catch a later flight – which has eaten into their practise time.

And their replacement journey from Liverpool to Madrid has also added an extra cost to the trip for the pair.

• MORE: Black Country couple 'stranded' in Spain hit out at airline

• MORE: Find out which flights into Birmingham have been cancelled

Mr Smith, 28, who lives in Coven, near Wolverhampton, is currently ranked sixth in the British men’s wheelchair tennis rankings.

He said: “We were due to go from Birmingham on Wednesday until Sunday for a tournament in Madrid.

“One of my friends lives just around the corner from Birmingham Airport so we were planning to park the car there then head to the airport.

“But we got told our flight has been cancelled.

“With our wheelchairs when we book we have to put ‘special assistance’ but when they cancelled there was no reference to that – it was just a standard letter.

“Now we’ve had to drive to Liverpool and pay extra for parking – it’s cost us about £180 extra each.

“Also we’re getting there late so we’re having to spend an extra day there.”

The pair were due to be in action this morning but their flight was only arriving in Spain at 9pm last night. They will be representing Shrewsbury and Birmingham Wheelchair Tennis.

Mr Smith suffered a spinal cord injury aged nine as a result of a tumour. He founded Invictus Active, based in Wolverhampton, alongside fellow wheelchair user Paul Cooksey to try to ensure other wheelchair users remain active.

Around 400,000 passengers are due to be affected by flight cancellations in the next six weeks. Ryanair has apologised.