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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Harry Ingham & Milo Boyd

Hen party shells out £5,000 extra after easyJet cancellation leaves them stuck abroad

A group of 14 friends have been left stranded abroad after their return flight was cancelled at short notice.

Alex Settle, 27, flew to Portugal for a hen do on Thursday with every intention of having an enjoyable holiday.

But after easyJet cancelled their flight home on Sunday, the group were left stranded and forced to pay thousands of pounds for accommodation and replacement flights.

The women were eventually offered replacement flights to Luton for later this evening, but took matters into their own hands because of the difficulties in getting back to Hull on arrival.

Instead the group decided to fly into Leeds Bradford Airport today.

EasyJet cancelled their flight on Sunday (AFP via Getty Images)

Alex, from Hessle, Yorkshire, said: "We were due to return Sunday, so we arrived at the airport and checked in with no issues. Our gate said 'boarding' so we went to gate, which is when we were told flight was cancelled.

"The staff who told us weren’t from easyJet and had no idea what was going on, but were giving out leaflets with information.

"We phoned easyJet customer services and were on hold for an hour before they told us they’d sort out accommodation and flights and get back to us.

"We didn’t hear anything for an hour so we had to phone again and were put on hold. We finally got through and they said they weren’t able to book any accommodation, so we were told to book it ourselves and claim the money back, so we did.

"When we finally heard back from easyJet, they basically said sorry for the inconvenience and that a customer service advisor would be in touch tomorrow to advise about compensation and claiming money back. So far we’ve spent £3,000 on accommodation and around £2,000 for new flights."

Understandably, Alex and her friends have been frustrated by the flight cancellations and said they would not fly with easyJet again.

Alex, a police officer, added: "The lack of communication from easyJet has been unacceptable. We have had to fend for ourselves and although we are able to do that, there are many stuck at the airport who do not have extra money to spend.

"It’s tainted the hen do for us and has made us all nervous about future holidays. We definitely won’t be booking with EasyJet again!"

EasyJet said it was "very sorry" about flight cancellations and "fully" understood "the disruption this will have caused for our customers".

The airline added: "We are providing options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals where required, along with information on how to arrange this quickly online or via the app.

"Our customer service hours and hotel accommodation sourcing have been extended to support impacted customers and help get them to their destination as soon as possible."

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