A husband and wife who were due to fly back to Edinburgh from Poland are demanding that EasyJet compensate them after their flight was cancelled.
James, 75, and Margaret Digance, 74, were due to fly back from Krakow to Edinburgh on April 14 but their flight was cancelled after the plane was reportedly struck by lightning and had to be repaired back in the capital.
They said that they were left in the dark by EasyJet as they searched for answers at 10pm on the Friday evening - staff reportedly told them the next flight would be on the following Monday 17.
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Unfortunately James and Margaret had to return home to Dunfermline for their granddaughter’s birthday that was taking place on the Sunday.
The plane company put the pair up for the night at a hotel opposite the airport but James said that they did not keep in contact about arranging an alternative.
A kind Polish woman helped the couple book new flights but this came in an eye watering £1,318.63 and would require them travelling from Krakow to Frankfurt and then to Edinburgh, getting in on Saturday afternoon.
James said that his phone ran out of battery shortly after returning from the airport but that when he was able to switch it back on the only flight related correspondence he received from EasyJet came at 5am telling him that they had booked him onto a flight travelling from Krakow to Belfast and then to Edinburgh - getting in late on Saturday night.
EasyJet claim to have kept in regular contact with James and updated customers that they were finding them alternative travel - something that the couple disputes.
They apologised for the inconvenience caused and said they had made arrangements for the couple to return home the next day but that they had already made alternative plans.
“My wife and I arrived at the airport in Krakow at around 7pm as our flight was due to depart at 9.05pm from Krakow”, James said.
“We were first informed of a two hour delay after dropping off our bags at the airport but at 9pm we were told, along with a group of other disgruntled passengers, that the flight had been cancelled.
“The young woman sitting behind the EasyJet desk said the next flight was Monday April 17 and just laughed, we didn’t know what to do as we felt as though we had just been abandoned.
“The battery on my phone had almost run out and we are both in our mid 70s and struggle with technology but thankfully a lovely Polish woman Edy who was flying to Edinburgh helped us.
“EasyJet put us and a number of other passengers up for the night at the Garden Hilton but this was not without difficulty as the staff at the hotel had to contact EasyJet for the vouchers.
“We had to get back for our granddaughter's birthday party on the 16th so Edy booked us flights from Krakow to Frankfurt and then to Edinburgh from her tablet.
“We were both really tired after being up from 7am in the morning and it was now past 11pm, so we headed to our beds, fully expecting compensation from EasyJet the next morning.”
However James says that their request for compensation has since been declined by EasyJet as the company has cited ‘Exceptional Circumstances’ due to a lightning strike.
James said he received a letter from EasyJet telling him that the plane was hit by lightning on departure from Edinburgh and had to return to be repaired which led to the cancellation.
He says that he feels planes must be hit by lightning everyday and he claims that his own research online showed that airlines have previously been taken to court to define ‘exceptional circumstances’ in cases similar to his and lost.
James is furious that the company is refusing to reimburse his flight fee and says that he will be contacting the Civil Aviation Authority Passenger Advice Complaints Team (PACT) to take the matter further.
“Their rerouted flight back took around 10 hours to arrange, so they cancelled the flight and it was not the quickest route back as we had established that was Frankfurt.
“I am prepared to take them all the way until I get what I am owed. It was not good enough for them to email us at 5am to say they had found alternative travel.
“This is for every single passenger that was impacted by the cancellation of the Krakow to Edinburgh flight.”
An easyJet holidays spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to hear that Mr and Ms Digance’s flight home was cancelled due to their aircraft being struck by lightning earlier that day.
“In situations like these, it’s our priority to get our customers booked onto an alternative flight as soon as possible and source hotel accommodation if needed.
“In this instance we contacted our customers to let them know that we were sourcing them an alternative flight home, and also to provide details of their overnight accommodation.
“We remained in regular contact that evening, letting them know we’d sourced them a flight to Belfast, and at 5am the following morning we confirmed that the customers were booked onto flights back to Edinburgh via Belfast that day.
“However, we understand Mr and Ms Digance chose to book themselves an alternative flight home instead.
“Whilst circumstances like these are out of our control, we’d like to apologise for the inconvenience Mr and Ms Digance experienced.”
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