Families have been left devastated after travel agency TUI suddenly cancelled an entire holiday package to Tenerife from Cardiff Airport after passengers had already boarded the plane. Holidaymakers on the flight, which was due to take off at 1.25pm, claim it was delayed by an hour, and then they waited another hour after boarding the plane because they were told it had a malfunctioning part.
But just as this was being repaired, they received text messages and emails from the German holiday giant informing them that their entire holiday was cancelled. TUI has said the cancellation was down to "operational and supply chain issues" in combination with the influx of people going on holiday at this time of year. It has assured that all impacted customers are entitled to compensation and will receive an "extra gesture of goodwill" from the company.
Huw Davies, from Porthcawl, boarded the flight with 11 other family members for a "special holiday" for his daughter who is terminally ill. He said the sudden news of the cancellation left them "absolutely devastated" and his children and grandchildren were in tears.
"This was a family outing for my daughter who has terminal cancer. It was going to be her last family holiday - and we just got booted off this flight," said the 59-year-old. "I think it's a load of b****** that they've said the engine went down, because that plane had flown in from Alicante. If this part was obviously malfunctioning on the way into the airport, why the hell did they load us? Why did they go through the motions? They knew that that plane wasn't going to take off."
He learnt of the flight's cancellation through other passengers on the plane who had received emails, but he said he has yet to receive one. "I've phoned TUI's headquarters and a message comes straight down the line that they're dealing with this and we'd be contacted. So they knew that they were going to cancel this flight and several round the country," he said.
He recalled the passengers were told disembark, before being taken into the airport terminal and told somebody from TUI would turn up to face them. "But it wasn't. It was a woman from [another] travel agency," said Huw, adding that the representative told them the cancellation was due to the malfunctioning part.
He recalled police were present in the terminal in case passengers "kicked off". He said: "[TUI's policy] is that they're supposed to supply another flight. We had it in black and white and showing them."
Asked how important the holiday was to his family, he said his son had booked the trip as a surprise for his daughter. "It was a special holiday and to make it worse, we asked my daughter where she wanted to go, because she's recently lost her mother. She wanted to go back to where we took my wife on holiday for the first time."
He estimates the family has paid up to £9,000 to TUI, not including all the fees for other travel related costs. "We're all out of pocket," he said. "We've put our good faith into these people who should have transported us to our destination by other means and they haven't had the decency to do this."
Another passenger, James Dewitt, recalled that staff were still trying to fix the plane when the bad news was announced. "They didn't even know that had happened," he said. "The staff on the plane didn't know any more than we did."
"Even after we got off the plane, we all had to wait around for at least another hour and a half to get our bags back as well. That was pretty annoying," he continued. He added that it was "incredibly" disappointing for his family, as they had been due to meet other relatives from Sweden at the destination.
"My wife's mother will be there by herself," he said. The 38-year-old and his wife were due to spend a week with their one-year-old and six-year-old, who he says his "very disappointed". He had considered booking a connecting flight to Tenerife instead, but said it would be difficult with young children. "I think we're just going to try and find something domestic to do".
The cancellation comes after aviation data firm Cirium said 291 departures from major UK airports have been cancelled between May 25 and Tuesday. TUI announced it will cancel around six flights at Manchester Airport every day until the end of June. Police were even called in to tell angry TUI holidaymakers at the airport to go home after a flight they'd already waited eight hours for had been cancelled. Meanwhile, last week frustrated holidaymakers were left waiting more than 40 hours to board a TUI flight from Cardiff Airport to the Greek island of Zakynthos.
A spokesperson for TUI UK said: “We’d like to apologise to customers travelling on flight TOM6286 from Cardiff to Tenerife today which was unfortunately cancelled due to operational issues. Customers affected by flight cancellations will receive a full refund for their holiday within 14 days.
"The May half-term holidays are always an incredibly busy period with many customers looking to get away, and we understand that they will have been looking forward to these holidays for a long time.
"While flight delays and cancellations with us are rare, unfortunately the increase in people going on holidays combined with various operational and supply chain issues, has meant that a small number of our flights have been impacted. Our teams have been working tirelessly to support affected customers, through direct communications and providing overnight accommodation and transfers where needed, as well as meals and refreshments.
"We continue to work closely with our airport partners to monitor the situation and provide the best possible holiday experience for our customers. We’d like to thank them for their patience and understanding at this time.”
Cardiff Airport has also been contacted for comment.
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