A Tameside woman who lives more than 2,500 miles from her husband was left furious after a connecting flight took off without her.
Karen Ergün, 57, had not seen partner Tahir since they finally tied the knot in Marmaris, Turkey, last October, after their wedding was rescheduled twice due to the pandemic. However, she lost out on precious time with him after her first flight was delayed which caused her to land late into Istanbul and miss her connecting flight to Dalaman.
Karen, who arrived at Manchester Airport four hours before scheduled take-off, was forced to stay in a hotel until the next flight was available - nearly 24 hours later. She told the Manchester Evening News : "I got to the airport so much earlier because I know it has been busy recently and there have been queues
"I went to the gate and noticed that half an hour later we still hadn't boarded. I was then told it had been delayed because there was snow in Istanbul. I instantly panicked because I thought I was going to miss my connecting flight but I was told that the plane would wait for us.
"The cabin crew kept saying they were aware of it and that we would still make the next flight."
She didn't board the 12.50pm Pegasus flight from Manchester to Istanbul until 2.25pm on March 19. Worried she would miss her connecting flight to Dalaman, she claimed she was reassured by Pegasus flight staff that the plane would wait for her and other passengers to arrive as it was part of the same airline.
Yet, upon eventually touching down in Istanbul, almost two hours later, the connecting flight had already left without her. Confused, she was guided to a reservations queue where she waited for 'over an hour' before she was told she would be staying in a hotel overnight until there was a seat available on the next flight to Dalaman.
Karen, of Dukinfield, added: "When we got to Istanbul, it was around 9.45pm, but my connecting flight was at 9.10pm. My husband texted me to tell me that he had watched it take off online and that it had left without us. It was so chaotic, everyone was rushing and people didn't know where to go or what to do.
"We were guided to the Pegasus reservations desk, and there was such a huge queue because of the people who had missed their flight. Passport control at the airport then took another hour as the queue was so long."
From the airport, Karen said that she was transported via minibus to the Elite World Hotel, where she would stay overnight until the airline were able to book her onto the next available flight to Dalaman - almost 24 hours later. Karen and husband Tahir met on holiday in 2018 and have been managing a long distance relationship ever since.
They had first planned to tie the knot in November 2020, but due to the pandemic and overseas travel restrictions, this had been cancelled and it was rescheduled to August 2021. However, this was cancelled again and then eventually moved to October 8 last year - the last time they saw each other before this most recent trip.
"We first met in Marmaris when I was on holiday and were just messaging as friends to begin with, and in June 2018 when I went back to visit we arranged to meet up and have been together ever since. I only managed to get eight days off work to go and see him and I lost out on a whole day of that because our flight left without us.
"I would understand if there was cancellations, but the airline knew we were going to be late and the flight still took off and I lost an extra day with my husband, who I won't see again now for another 10 weeks until June."
Pegasus said: "We can confirm that Pegasus Airlines flight number PC 1180, scheduled to depart from Manchester Airport to Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen on Saturday at 12.50pm, on 19th March 2022, was delayed by one hour and 39 minutes due to the inclement weather conditions.
"The passengers who missed the last connection to Dalaman Airport from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen on 19th March were re-booked onto the next available flight, in this case, on 20 March, and provided with complimentary overnight hotel accommodation and related services detailed in the Pegasus Airlines notice of passenger rights in case of flight delays and cancellations."
It comes as Manchester Airport boss warned long queues could last for weeks after finally admitting staff shortages.
Karen Smart, managing director of Manchester Airport, said: “We want to apologise to all our customers who have experienced disruption over the last couple of weeks.
“We want to be clear with our customers that getting back to full strength is going to take time and there will unfortunately be periods over the next few weeks when it will take longer to get through the airport than it should.”
