Plane passengers claim were left stranded after their easyJet flight was diverted to Cardiff Airport in the early hours of Friday morning. The plane full of returning holidaymakers from Spain say they landed in the Welsh capital's airport with no way to get home.
EasyJet said that a delay in the flight taking off had meant that it would be arriving back too late to reach Bristol before its night curfew so the decision was taken to divert to Cardiff. The airport said it was carrying out maintenance work that night so could not receive the flight.
But passengers who arrived in Cardiff Airport at around 3am with no transport criticised the lack of support for them to help them get home.
Read more: 700 jobs go at chicken plant today as factory closes its doors
Alison Britton, from Pembrokeshire, said: "There was an issue with the door which was resolved but delayed the aircraft by only minutes. We had to divert and land in Cardiff leaving hundreds stranded.
"There were vulnerable individuals in wheelchairs and elderly people left to their own devices at 3am in the morning. It is absolutely disgusting. The pilot and crew were fantastic and communication was brilliant they too were also just left at Cardiff Airport.
"We had the massive inconvenience and additional exspense of hiring a taxi. I had to pay for a taxi to get me to Bristol Airport for me to collect my car and then I had to drive home to Pembrokeshire. The taxi fare cost £150."
A spokeswoman for Bristol Airport said that the maintenance of the runway had been planned and only one flight was affected.
She added: "Bristol Airport completed planned routine maintenance of the runway overnight 29 and 30 March 2023. After liaison with the contractor the commencement of the work was delayed to accept the arrival of flights arriving off schedule due to French Air Traffic Control industrial action earlier in the day.
"The fight arriving from Alicante experienced a delay of over one hour (scheduled time of arrival @ 01.15h, estimated time of arrival @ 02.20h). As the maintenance work could not be delayed any further, after liaison with the airline the decision was made to divert the aircraft to an alternative airport, so the work could continue. This was the only flight impacted throughout the day.
“Bristol Airport remains operating as normal and safety will always be our top priority for our customers, airline partners and colleagues. We apologise to any customers who have experienced inconvenience and thank them for the patience and understanding.”
EasyJet said: "EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY2726 from Alicante to Bristol on 29 March was required to divert to Cardiff due to earlier delays caused by air traffic control restrictions, which meant the aircraft would not have been able to reach Bristol before the airport’s night curfew.
“We did all possible to minimise the impact of the disruption for our customers providing hotel accommodation where required and as unfortunately there was limited coach availability in Bristol we advised customers that they will be reimbursed for alternative onward transport arrangements. We would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”
Read next:
