A family who had booked a much-needed short break in the sun to Kefalonia were among those hit by yet more flight chaos over the weekend - and had their trip delayed by TWO days.
Teacher Chloe Mottershead, from Middleton, had been looking forward to the trip to the Greek island with her little girl Matilda and mum Tracy, and was set to fly with airline TUI on Sunday afternoon (May 29). But after numerous 'confusing' texts when already sat at the gate from the airline, the family are now among others told they had to wait as long as two days until their flight would actually take off.
Instead of jetting off at 4.46pm on Sunday (May 29), the gutted family have been told they will not actually be leaving until 6am on Tuesday (May 31), cutting their already short trip down even further to just three days. It is just one story among many, as TUI and EasyJet continue to be among the airlines announcing delays and cancellations.
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It follows on from what was another weekend of mayhem at a hectic Manchester Airport - with travellers reporting dramatic scenes of children crying, empty vending machines, flight cancellations and huge queues at check-in. Streams of passengers even ended up in tears on Monday morning, as the half term holiday madness continued.
Manchester Airport bosses have apologised for the disruption - and said that delays at check-in and baggage reclaim were the responsibility of airlines and ground handling firms, which run their own services. They added that they were 'in contact with the senior management teams of the relevant airlines and ground handlers' to 'understand the cause of these issues'.
Mum Chloe said: "We had just booked a quick Sunday to Friday trip to get away and enjoy some sun. We got to the airport for around 11am for our flight at 2.15, and luckily didn't get caught up in the huge queues at baggage drop off as we only had hand luggage.
"To be fair, when we arrived it was already absolutely chaotic, but we got through security pretty quickly and managed to sit down to eat some food. After we had finished, we saw the flight had been delayed to 4.46pm instead, but didn't think too much into it.
"We went to find a seat nearer to the gate, where a different screen was telling us to 'relax'. We had no further information from TUI at this point and weren't eligible for any food vouchers, and there was nobody around to ask and we didn't know what was going on at that point."
In the hours that followed, Chloe, among hundreds of other passengers, received another message shortly before 6pm, informing them that their flight had been delayed again to 7.10pm, and that they could pick up a food voucher to the value of £8 each.
The scenes were one of upset and anger, with customers getting increasingly irate about the constant delays, according to mum Chloe. She added: "My daughter was crying and upset and was extremely tired. The screen at our gate then changed to an AirFrance flight and others were boarding around us.
"We were trying to find out what was going on, then got moved from gate A11 to gate A7, before getting a text from TUI at 6.46pm telling us that due to operational disruptions, our flight would not be going ahead. Everyone was stood so confused and nobody knew what was going on."
Disgruntled passengers were guided to a coach and were temporarily put up in a hotel overnight and given an evening meal, she said. It was this morning (Monday May 30) that they were then informed they would spend yet another night in the hotel before their new flight on Tuesday morning.
"All people wanted to know is when we were going, but they couldn't tell us. People were getting really irate and shouting, and children were crying. The hotel have been really helpful, and this morning we had a message of TUI telling us we will be picked up at 3am tomorrow morning for our flight.
"I am not hopeful it will go ahead and am expecting another text saying its been delayed.
"We have missed out on two days of our holiday now, which was already short as we just wanted some sun and a pool during half term. It has put such a damper on everyone's holidays and has gone from one thing to another."
A spokesperson for TUI confirmed that customers are entitled to flight delay compensation payable at £350 per person, which can be claimed 72 hours after the original arrival time on their website. Customers are understood to also be eligible to a partial refund based on their holiday cost for the inconvenience.
A spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise to some of our customers who have experienced flight delays in recent days. The May half-term holidays are always an incredibly busy period with many customers looking to get away, and this year is no different.
"We understand that many of our customers have been looking forward to these holidays, as it’s the first peak period in more than two years that hasn’t been impacted by border closures and mass testing requirements.
"Our priority is always to take customers on holiday safely. While flight delays and cancellations with us are rare, unfortunately the sudden 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.”
