A dad from Bristol has described how his bride-to-be step-daughter was left 'broken' after she was forced to call off her wedding. The airline has apologised as scores of holidaymakers faced travel chaos on Saturday after Tui axed flights ahead of the half-term rush.
Kevin Trenchard, 55 from Caerleon, Newport - originally from Knowle - was due to leave for Paphos, Cyprus on Saturday, May 28 at 1.35pm from Bristol Airport with his step-daughter Seren Rounds and her fiancé Adam Howells in a wedding party of 34 people. Mr Trenchard said they arrived four hours before they were due to depart as they were aware of some of the airport's challenges during the busy season.
He praised the speed at which they got through check-in, at which point their flight to Paphos for 1.35pm was showing as on time on the flight board. However, delays began to show after they got past security and the wedding party began fearing the worst.
Follow live: Bristol Airport chaos as flights cancelled eight hours after passengers check in
Mr Trenchard said: "They called us down to the gate to give us the bad news, which at that stage was that the flight had been delayed until 10.30pm Sunday (May 29) evening."
The airport staff initially said they could only find 13 hotel rooms to accommodate passengers affected by the flight change, at which point some of the wedding party with young children left for a hotel in Bristol. But then this situation took another turn.
He explained: "They then made the announcement that the flight has been cancelled and that we'd all get a refund."
When approached about the cancellations, a spokesperson for TUI said: "We would like to apologise for the inconvenience to our customers on flight BY 6676 from Bristol to Paphos, on Saturday, May 28 who were delayed to a combination of factors causing significant operational disruption.
"Unfortunately, we felt the impact to customers holiday was too great and took the difficult decision to cancel the flight. We contacted affected customers as soon as we became aware of the change and all customers will receive a full refund within 14 days. We understand how disappointing and frustrating this is and we do apologise for any inconvenience caused."
Passengers have been offered £200 vouchers along with a full refund and a £350 compensation sum per person by the airline.
"She was obviously broken yesterday and they're actually in TUI in Newport trying to sort something else out but it doesn't look like it's going to happen," he added.
Eleven people in the wedding party had already flown out to Paphos a few days earlier but the bride and groom have not been able to find any way to join them. After looking at their options the family realised there was no way they could rebook 34 people in the party on flights in time for the wedding on June 2. Mr Trenchard also explained that the hotel due to host the nuptials has lost two weddings due to flight cancellations.
Mr Trenchard explained not one person from TUI got in touch and it was left to the ground staff and the security people who he praised for their help and support throughout. "It's been a disaster really. The communication from TUI was all via text or email, that's where everybody found out about it."
He said his step-daughter had been planning the wedding meticulously for the past three years. "Because she's a school teacher we are limited to the available slots we can get away.
"She may still get married later this year but if we do that it might have to be somewhere like Vegas where we can just go and get it done without any big planning. If you want to get married [in the UK] it takes ages to find an available slot."
Bristol Live spoke to another dad who said his family holiday to Rhodes was cancelled after being at Bristol Airport for 12 hours. Jason Nash claimed no one offered his family food vouchers while they faced severe delays in the airport.
