A family has described their ordeal after five of their flights were cancelled as they attempted to meet up for a celebration. During one of the cancelled flights, Dannielle's elderly mother was left stranded in Bristol Airport's Departures area and police ended up having to escort her out.
They are some of hundreds of travellers who have been hit with disruption as airlines have been forced to cancel flights this month.
Three flights due to arrive at the airport today have also been cancelled. Flight cancellations are being experienced at airports across the country and it was believed that hundreds of pupils and teachers would miss the start of term because they would be stranded abroad.
Read more: Live updates as Bristol Airport faces further disruption with more flights cancelled
Dannielle was waiting to get back to Newcastle from Bristol after being in the city for a few days for her mum's 60th birthday celebrations. She said that her flight to Bristol was also cancelled so she missed the first afternoon of celebrations with her family last Thursday.
The 30-year-old said: "I was booked on a flight from Bristol to Newcastle yesterday afternoon. My mum was booked on the flight to the Isle of Man around the same time.
"We had delays with no info from easyJet other than ‘Gate info shortly’ on the announcement boards. This went on for hours.
"Eventually we received emails and texts from easyJet to say our flights had been cancelled. There was one member of EasyJet staff trying to deal with hundreds of unhappy people and she had no information.
"Eventually a batch of us were escorted out into Arrivals and left to fend for ourselves. I couldn’t get through to easyJet, and their website says something to the tune of ‘you need to sort hotels through us, don’t do it yourself if you want to be reimbursed’.
"I have now paid £280 for a hotel as I’m stuck in Bristol. My mum was stuck in Departures because there were no staff to escort her and fellow passengers out into Arrivals. Eventually, the police stepped in.
"They got everyone out of Departures and into Arrivals, because even though their flight had been cancelled they were being held there"
Dannielle - who lives in Sunderland and whose mum lives in the Isle of Man - said that every time a flight is cancelled, she moves it to the next flight, wait around for it but then that one also gets cancelled. She said she can't get through to them on the phone and that she has had no communications apart from the cancelled flight notifications.
"My mum has a chronic condition and travel is hard for her at the best of times so this is very stressful," she continued. "It was supposed to be a nice surprise celebration for her. Five flights cancelled between us."
Josh is another traveller whose flight was cancelled and is currently stuck in Split. He was due to fly to Bristol at 10.20am with easyJet.
The 28-year-old said: "We were in a taxi to the airport when the flight got cancelled three hours before departure time. We were informed via email.
"We immediately tried to book an alternative flight but there were non until Thursday! We have had 0 communication from easyJet, we couldn’t speak to anyone in person as there are no easyJet representatives."
Josh - who was in Split on holiday with his partner Elisha - said he spent over an hour on hold to the airline to try and get some information. When he managed to get through to them, Josh claimed he was told there were no alternative flight and that the airline hang up on him.
He said they didn't experience any problems on the way to Croatia, adding this is their first holiday since 2019.
"We have had to pay £100 for flights home to Leeds/Bradford airport - and it’s going to cost us £170 each to get a train to Bristol to get our car!" he added. "We haven't been given a reason for the cancellation, but we need to get back home as I have to work tomorrow.
"Easyjet are absolutely awful. Customer service is the worst I’ve experienced."
What EasyJet has said
EasyJet said in a statement: "easyJet is operating over 1600 flights today carrying over 250,000 customers. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing challenging operating environment a number of flights to and from Bristol have been cancelled today, many ahead of customers arriving at the airport.
“We are very sorry and fully understand the disruption this will have caused for our customers. Customers are being provided with options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals where required, along with information on how to arrange this quickly online or via the app.
"Our customer service hours and hotel accommodation sourcing have been extended to support impacted customers and help get them to their destination as soon as possible. Once again, we are very sorry to customers impacted by the cancellations today.”
