A large group of 150 Irish tourists has been stranded in Greece for days after their flight was cancelled three times.
The TUI flight from Rhodes to Dublin was first due to depart on Saturday, May 28, but was cancelled a few hours before.
Passengers were put up in a hotel overnight with a second flight rescheduled to leave for Dublin Airport on Sunday - but that too was cancelled.
A third flight was due to depart at 6pm local time today but also did not leave and passengers have since been told it will now depart at 4.50am on Tuesday.
Many tourists in the group have been left unable to get back to work after the flight was cancelled multiple times.
READ MORE: Ways to travel to Spain, Portugal and Italy that avoid Dublin Airport and are even cheaper
Pauline Ward from Wicklow, who is part of the stranded group along with her husband and two children, told the Irish Mirror how passengers have been affected by the travel disruptions: "I'm self-employed so I should be at work, my husband should be at work," she said.
"There's a woman here today who ran out of medication. It was really serious, she had to get her medication. She got it but it's things like that.
"We're just fed up and want to go home."
She said the most frustrating thing has been the lack of information from TUI and being brought out to the airport each time to find out the flight has been cancelled again.
"We're constantly packing, we're constantly getting bits out of the bag, we're going around in circles," she said.
"And there's no information from anybody. We're getting information from the Irish Embassy. TUI themselves have not been in contact."
TUI blamed "operational issues" and "the sudden increase in people going on holidays" for the cancellations but is facing a number of customer complaints online.
Paddy Cunningham, who has friends in the group stuck in Rhodes, tweeted the travel company, writing: "There's a whole host of people stranded with no way home. Absolutely shocking."
In a statement to the Irish Mirror, a spokesperson for TUI said: "We’d like to apologise to customers travelling on flight TOM1651 from Rhodes to Dublin which was unable to depart as planned on Saturday 28 May, due to operational issues.
"All impacted customers were offered welfare vouchers, overnight accommodation and were provided with meals while we worked through a new flight plan.
"We were in regular contact with customers and advised them of their new departure time as soon as we could. The flight will now depart for Dublin at 04:50 local time on Tuesday 31 May.
"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.
"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 and 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."
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
