Passengers had to sleep in the airport after a last-minute cancellation as they tried to make their way home from Spain. Travellers on the easyJet flight from Alicante to the UK had to turn around and go back through border control on Thursday evening after an incident on the incoming flight.
Some passengers slept in the airport while others drove through the night to get on alternative flights, reports MEN. easyJet said the cancellation was 'out of their control' and customers' costs will be reimbursed.
They say travellers were offered the option of a transfer to an alternative flight free of charge, or a refund, as well as hotel accommodation and meals.
Dad-of-two Tony Fretwell, drove through the night to get his wife and children safely on a flight from Valencia, before he returned to Alicante to catch his own return flight.
He added. "Children, babies, elderly just left. I heard most slept at the airport. It was carnage and most information came in drips then rumours spread so no one had a clue what was correct or not. It became every person for themselves. Awful."
Another passenger said the experience had been 'traumatic' as she and her family of six have been left 'stranded' until Tuesday. She claims she was given accommodation for just one night, and was not given any food vouchers.
Carole claimed she had been forced to sleep on airport benches after being unable to fund her own accommodation for the night. She said she witnessed 'at least a dozen' passengers forced to sleep in the airport on Thursday night.
She eventually managed to board a flight on Friday afternoon, at over double the cost of her original flight. She said she had been forced to put the cost on a credit card, and said the experience made her 'want to cry'.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “easyJet can confirm that flight EZY2015 from Manchester to Alicante on 13 April was met by police on arrival due to a group of passengers behaving disruptively onboard and as a result the return flight to Manchester was unable to operate.
“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet's priority. We take incidents of disruptive behaviour very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard and our cabin crew are trained to assess all situations and to act quickly and appropriately, to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.
"While this was outside of our control, we are very sorry for the inconvenience this will have caused those due to travel on the return flight to Manchester. We provided customers with the option of a transfer to an alternative flight free of charge, or a refund, as well as hotel accommodation and meals for those customers who required them. Should customers have sourced their own flights, including with alternative airlines, accommodation and meals, or incurred other expenses, we will reimburse them."
