Passengers have been "left stranded" in Amsterdam after their easyJet's flights were cancelled, including one with Cystic Fibrosis who is running out of vital medicine.
A number of passengers who were due to travel from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Friday have told Belfast Live that their flights were "cancelled without notice" leaving them stuck in the city until at least Monday.
Danielle Hamilton had been on a two day trip in the city with her family and was due to get the 5.35pm flight home when they were told that there flight wouldn't be going ahead.
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She says that she was unable to find a member of the easyJet staff at the airport to help them and after "over an hour on the phone" they found out it would be days before they are able to get another flight.
To make matters worse, her brother Jordan who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis and was with her on the trip, will run out of his vital medicine on Saturday but cannot return home until Monday.
Danielle said: "We came out to Amsterdam on Wednesday for a trip that we got as a Christmas present and were due to fly home on Friday at 5.35pm.
"We were at the airport waiting to be told what terminal we were going to, but no information ever appeared. Then just after 7pm we were told that our flight had been cancelled, leaving us stuck there.
"We searched the airport for some easyJet staff to talk to, but there was nobody at the desk and we then spent over an hour on the phone trying to find out where we were going to go from there.
"Our biggest worry is that my brother Jordan has Cystic Fibrosis and will run out of his Kaftrio medicine by the end of Saturday and he desperately needs to get home.
"We have been told that my brother is able to fly home on a flight on Monday, and I will have to wait until Wednesday, but that is still not quick enough for him as he needs his medicine. We have also had to pay £200 extra out of our own pockets for his flight home on Monday.
"We have not had any contact from easyJet throughout this all and have had to borrow hundreds from our parents in order to get a hotel to stay in."
Newlyweds Chris and Natasha Stewart were returning from their honeymoon and were also left stranded after the flight was cancelled.
They said that they saw the plane they believed they were due to get arrive at the terminal when suddenly they were told that the flight was cancelled. They say they received an alert from easyJet saying this was due to the crew on their flight reaching the legal limit for the number of hours they had worked.
Natasha said: "We were waiting at the airport terminal for the plane to arrive and as we saw it approaching the gate, we got a notification saying that the flight has been cancelled because the crew had reached their maximum legal working hours.
"It was quite a surprise because I thought that would be why a rota system is set up, in order to avoid things like this.
"Following this we found it difficult to get in touch with easyJet but eventually we got through on the phone and were allocated a hotel for one night and told we could fly home on Monday. This morning we ended up in quite a panic when the hotel said we only had one night booked by the airline and would probably have to leave but thankfully that was resolved.
"But now we are stuck here for a few more days, at a hotel on the outskirts of the city, with no money at all to get us by and easyJet have said they would not be providing any assistance for us to get food. The lack of communication from them has been very disappointing."
An easyJet spokesperson said: "easyJet can confirm that flight EJU6772 from Amsterdam to Belfast on 22 April was cancelled due to operating restrictions at Amsterdam airport caused by heavy winds combined with ongoing runway maintenance, which meant the inbound flight would have broken the airport curfew.
"Customers were advised of the cancellation via email, sms and our app using the contact details provided when booking. Where passengers have booked flights through a third party travel agent, we always ask third parties to ensure they pass on any important information to their customers.
"We did all possible to minimise the impact of the disruption for our customers, offering hotel accommodation where required and customers were able to transfer to an alternative flight free of charge, or receive a voucher or a refund. The quickest and easiest way for customers to book a hotel and transfer to an alternative easyJet flight is via Manage Bookings or through the easyJet app. Due to limited hotel room availability in Amsterdam, unfortunately we were unable to provide rooms for all customers and advised that anyone who sourced their own hotel accommodation will be reimbursed for any reasonable expenses.
"While this was outside of our control, we are very sorry for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation. The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is our highest priority.”
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