A mum and her disabled child were left stranded in Liverpool for 24 hours after their delayed flight to the Isle of Man was diverted.
Tanya Kennaugh-Dube was traveling from London to the Isle of Man with her family on Sunday, July 10. Their flight had originally been delayed for almost three hours, however, when they finally took off the plane they were told the plane needed to land in Liverpool because the Isle of Man Airport had closed for the night.
Tanya was told that arrangements would be made for the night by Swissport and a plane would be set for the morning. But when she came to contact Swissport to organise her taxi and hotel, the company knew nothing.
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Tanya said: “We were told we would be given priority because our daughter uses a manual wheelchair. We said we needed two rooms, because there are four of us, and an accessible room usually only allows 2 people.
“We arrived at the hotel at around 3:30 in the morning on July 11. There was only one room booked, so we had to pay for a second room.”
Tanya's daughter was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, and also has low vision, communication disabilities and anxiety. Tanya said how: “Staying up until 3am with a lot of uncertainty did not help her anxiety disorder.”
As a result of her conditions, her daughter suffers from bladder problems. Because of the disruptions caused by the delayed flight, Tanya explained how her daughter’s bowel routines that needed doing in the morning could not be done as they did not know when they would be leaving for the airport.
Tanya and her family were told that they would receive an email from Loganair in the morning with instructions regarding their flight. When they woke at 8am there was no email. When she rang the airline’s customer service there was “no one to answer, then it hung up.”
Their family took a taxi to the airport only to discover that all other passengers from her flight had either taken a ferry or an earlier flight that morning. She said: “We then had to wait all day until the evening flight, which we were told we would be able to get on.”
She added how all they were given was a £5 Starbucks vouchers each for the entire day.
She said: “The flight from London City to the Isle of Man should have taken one hour and ten minutes. Our whole stay ended up being 27 hours.”
Tanya has since contacted Loganair and put in a claim for compensation but has again had “no contact from them.”
A spokesperson for Loganair said: “As a result of a closure at Isle of Man Airport, our scheduled service from London City on 11 July had to be diverted to Liverpool Airport.
“We liaised with our booking agent to arrange overnight accommodation, as in line with normal procedure, and have not been made aware of any issues. Any passengers who were not provided with accommodation or transport should contact our customer service team.”
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