A couple going on holiday realised only the day before that they had no flight home - because their return airport back in the UK has closed down.
The holidaymakers from Cleethorpes were due to fly to Tenerife from Doncaster Sheffield Airport with TUI on Monday, October 31.
But they had to find out for themselves that there would be no way of getting back, as the airport will no longer be operating.
The last scheduled domestic flight from Doncaster Sheffield left on Saturday as owners Peel Group began to 'wind down' operations at the site, while some inbound flights will be continuing until this weekend.
After his daughter read reports online about the closure of the airport, the dad telephoned TUI to express his concerns over his booking, where they confirmed he would not be able to return to Doncaster.
It is the first they had heard of the cancellation, he said, with no emails coming from TUI to inform him of the change.
The man, who did not wish to be named, told Grimsby Live: "We knew they were shutting the airport and my wife kept saying to me, 'Do you think we'll be flying back into the airport?' and I said, 'Surely they'd let us know if we didn't have a flight back?'
"Then my daughter read online that the last flight had departed from the airport on Saturday, and she looked at the flight departures board on its website and there was nothing on there. She said she thought I'd better ring TUI, so I did."
"I told them my concerns, that I didn't know whether the flight would be going, and she didn't know either, so she put me on hold and went to check. She said it was definitely going, and I said, 'What about coming back?' She put me on hold again and came back and said, 'No, it's not going back to Doncaster'. We were so frustrated and stressed out."
He revealed that to make amends, TUI then offered the couple a full refund or the opportunity to re-book their holiday with a 10 percent discount.
They chose the latter, and will now fly from East Midlands Airport out to Tenerife in late October.
TUI have since apologised for the incident, and said the couple had not been informed due to a system error
A spokesperson for company told Grimsby Live: "We’d like to apologise to the couple for their experience regarding their flight to Tenerife. Unfortunately, due to a system error they were not advised about the change to their inbound flight.
"We’d like to reassure customers that this is a rare occurrence and the issue has been raised with the relevant team to ensure this does not happen again. Our team has contacted the couple to apologise again and offer a further gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience caused."
Doncaster Sheffield Airport will permanently close this weekend, with owners Peel Group citing financial difficulties following the Covid-19 pandemic and the departure of the Wizz Air airline.
Offers to use public money to purchase the airport have reportedly been rejected, though Peel insist no 'credible' buyers have yet stepped forward.
