Crying children, massive queues, empty vending machines, closed restaurants and passengers stuck on planes for hours. It's been a hectic weekend at Manchester Airport.
The airport saw huge half term queues again on Sunday (May 29), with trailing bag drop queues reported for TUI flights, as well as various delays to other flights, leaving families waiting at the gates for hours longer than planned. It comes after others told of how they were forced to sleep on the floor overnight earlier this week and even abandon their suitcases and go home after waiting hours for them at baggage reclaim on Saturday.
Manchester Airport has said there are no issues with security, and it appears a large number of TUI flights were being affected by delays and long queues.
On Sunday, the scores of disgruntled passengers contacted the Manchester Evening News. One told of how she and fellow travellers had to wait in their seats on the runway for up to four hours after their flights were delayed. People said they witness devastated families being sent away with children crying. Some even saw their flights delayed overnight.
Videos shared to social media on Sunday night (May 29) showed baggage drop queues trailing out of the doors and into the car drop off area. Passengers told of how they had waited in the airport for over six hours with no updates on delayed flights.
TUI and EasyJet have hit the headlines in recent days. TUI passengers were left outraged after they received a text from the holiday giant that their trips were cancelled on Sunday. EasyJet announced it would be cancelling 200 flights over the next 10 days, putting half-term breaks at risk for families.
Among those affected was Sharon Marie, who was travelling with her partner on a TUI flight to Paphos - set to depart from Manchester at 5.30pm. After moving from 'queue to queue' in the airport for more than six hours, they were still waiting at the gate at 8pm, with no word on if her flight would take off, she said.
Sharon queued for two hours at baggage drop off before seeing empty vending machines and closed restaurants in Terminal 2. She said families had been sat in the airport unable to eat for hours, with scores of kids children 'screaming and crying'.
Shortly after 8.30pm, she said she was informed the flight had been delayed overnight to Monday - and was told to go home with her luggage before doing it all again.
She told the Manchester Evening News: "There are so many eateries just not open at all, we were told many had ran out of food so they had to close. It is just unbelievable that families aren't able to get anything to eat.
"It has just been chaos. We waited for six hours and had no idea if our holiday would be going ahead. We were in the main lounge waiting and then we were told to go to the gate.
"When we got there, there was a huge queue of people waiting for a different flight. There were so many children screaming and crying and people just wondering what on earth was going on.
"People are tired, hungry and stressed. We have moved from queue to queue. It is shambolic.
"We were then told we had to wait for our luggage and be escorted out of the airport as our flight has been cancelled to 12pm tomorrow [Monday]. We are being sent home with luggage at a cost to ourselves to return and go through the whole process again. We are tired, hungry and fed up."
When contacted, TUI refused to comment, saying it was 'more appropriate' to update customers directly.
Aisha Marzouq, whose Kuwait Airways flight from Manchester to Kuwait City was meant to depart at 12.45pm on Sunday, says after eventually boarding almost two hours later at 2.30pm, passengers were then left sitting on the aircraft for four hours.
She said: "We had been trapped on the plane for four-and-a-half hours. We boarded at 2.30pm due to staffing issues at baggage delivery.
"The staff are all trying their best, but we have just been sitting at the gate, trapped on the plane." The M.E.N. attempted to contact Kuwait Airways for comment.
After eventually being let back off the plane again, Aisha shared photos of empty vending machines at the airport. Flight Radar showed that the flight had still not departed as of 8pm - almost eight hours after its original scheduled time.
Keith Barrett, from Hazel Grove in Stockport, was due to flight to Antalya on Sunday evening for a week-long holiday with family. After queuing for two hours to check his luggage in at Terminal 2, he discovered the TUI flight had been delayed overnight.
"There are 15 of us," he said. "We've not been away for three years.
"We've been queuing for two hours and all of a sudden they say they have technical problems and we can't fly today. They've said they will text us with a flight time for tomorrow.
"We were only going for a week and now we've lost a day. I'm absolutely gutted and disgusted. They have said you find yourself a hotel and they will pay for it. Luckily, we don't live far away."
A spokesperson for TUI responded, and told the M.E.N : "We’d like to apologise to customers travelling on flight BY508 today from Manchester to Antalya which has been delayed due to a combination of factors.
"All customers have been offered overnight accommodation and provided with relevant meals. Customers on this flight are entitled to compensation in line with regulations and we have proactively sent them information on how to submit a claim.
"We continue to update impacted customers directly and will provide them with revised travel plans as soon as we can. We understand that delays are frustrating for customers, and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank them for their patience."
In a statement on Sunday, Manchester Airport apologised for the disruption faced by passengers, and explained that delays at check-in and baggage reclaim are 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' and said they would be supporting their efforts to resolve the issues as quickly as possible.
Manchester Airport has been approached for further comment.
On Friday (May 27), TUI released a statement apologising for flight delays. In the statement, bosses said: “We would like to apologise to some of our customers who have experienced flight delays in recent days. As the UK’s biggest holiday company, our priority is to take customers on holiday safely.
"We continue to work closely with our airport partners to monitor the situation and continue to provide the best possible holiday experience for our customers. We are doing everything we can to limit any flight delays, which can happen from time to time for various operational reasons.
"On the rare occasion flight delays do take place, we will do everything we can to support our customers, through direct communications and providing overnight accommodation and transfers where needed, as well as meals and refreshments. We’d like to remind customers not to arrive at the airport too far in advance of their flight, as this can contribute to terminal queueing delays."
Similarly, Manchester Airport bosses advised people not to arrive earlier than three hours for their flights. A spokesperson recently said: “The airport is asking passengers not to come any earlier than this because they will not be able to check-in with their airlines, which could cause unnecessary waits in the terminals. Leaving a three-hour window will enable people to pass through security and make their flights."
