A family who have endured weeks of struggle trying to get a passport for their daughter had their holiday cancelled just days before their flight.
Leanne Dooley, her partner Ken and her two children, Lily, 12, and Poppy, 10, were due to go on their first holiday to Lanzarote on June 7 but were emailed last night by TUI telling them their flights have been cancelled. Leanne, 35, was contacted by TUI that their holiday plans had been cancelled at just after 2am today.
The travel operator has recently axed a number of flights due to leave Manchester Airport to tackle staff shortages and "ongoing disruption". Leanne and her family are among 34,000 people whose half-term and summer plans have been decimated by issues which have caused flight delays, cancellations and baggage problems.
READ MORE: TUI to contact 34,000 customers 'by end of day' to cancel Manchester flights
The family, from Widnes, had been due to go on the children's first ever holiday - something Leanne said was "massive for us as a family". But she added: "Now the children are absolutely heartbroken. Because they are upset, it's got me upset too."
In a statement on Tuesday TUI apologised for the recent flight delays and cancellations but added because of the on-going disruption in operations at Manchester Airport "we have made the incredibly difficult decision to cancel six flights a day from Tuesday, May 31 until Thursday, June 30.
"All other airports in the UK are planned to operate as normal. We understand how disappointing this will be for those impacted; however, we believe this is necessary to provide stability and a better customer service at Manchester Airport.
"We will continue to work closely with all our airport partners and suppliers so we can provide the best possible holiday experience for our customers.” TUI said affected customers will receive a full refund for the cancellations.
The cancellation is the latest in a line of holiday disappointments for the family. They originally tried to book a holiday to Mexico before the pandemic but it was cancelled after Thomas Cook collapsed.
After having another trip cancelled by TUI due to the pandemic, the family was looking forward to finally getting away on holiday. Leanne, who has been experiencing some health issues, said: "This holiday would be for us as a family to help get over the stress we are going through".
But the past months have been plagued by worry as the family waited for their 12-year-old daughter Lily's passport to be renewed. After sending off all the necessary documents on April 1 the family has received all the passports back apart from Lily.
The family has endured weeks of back-and-forth trying to get Lily's passport approved including upgrading to fast track. Dad Ken even took Lily down to Liverpool passport office yesterday, May 31, where they waited in line all day to not be seen.
Leanne told the ECHO : "I dropped my partner and daughter off at 4am and by 9am she was soaking wet, freezing and crying. She's been so upset and worried and scared that we'd leave her behind.
"Everyone we've spoken with has been rude and told us we should expect a call or email back but then we never hear anything back. It's not good enough from the passport office - we don't know what to do anymore."
A HM Passport Office spokesperson told the ECHO : “Since April 2021, we’ve clearly stated that people should allow up to ten weeks when applying for their passport to factor in the increased demand, which has seen 5 people million people delay their passport application due to the pandemic.
“The overwhelming majority of applications are completed within 10 weeks, with the latest figures showing 90% were completed within 6 weeks. But we cannot compromise security checks and people should apply with plenty of time prior to travelling.”
Leanne said: "I hate when things affect kids like this and I don't mean just my kids either, there's loads of people in the same position and it's just awful."
