A British family claim they have been left stranded in Cyprus after TUI canceller their flight home "several times".
Glenda and husband Stephen Powell have described the situation as an "absolute joke" and state their six-year-old has been left in tears. The family were due to travel back to Bristol from Paphos with their two children over the weekend.
However, they were forced to stay in their hotel after discovering their flights home had been cancelled twice by TUI. They told Bristol Live that "TUI won't even get us all-inclusive despite their utter failure to get us home".
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Following their outburst, TUI issued an apology to all customers for flight cancellations while claiming to have been in contact with passengers to advise of new service departure times.
A spokesperson said: "We’d like to apologise to customers travelling on flight TOM6677 from Paphos to Bristol which was unable to depart as planned on Saturday 28 May due to operational issues. All impacted customers were offered welfare vouchers, overnight accommodation and meals while we worked through a new flight plan."
It continues: "We were in regular contact with customers and advised them of their new departure time as soon as we could. Customers are now due to arrive in Manchester this evening and transport back to Bristol Airport will be provided. We’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding during this time."
While the Powell family were lucky enough to miss out on the frequent flight delays at Bristol Airport, they have expressed their sympathy for other holidaymakers. Mrs Powell said she feels sorry for people who have to reschedule their holiday plans, but noted "there's a large bunch of us stranded in Cyprus and we can't get home."
She added on social media: "2nd attempt to get home...So our Manchester flight is cancelled... Literally got off the coach at the airport to be turned straight back round to go back to the same hotel/room... Absolute joke... #tui this is the face of a six-year-old who is exhausted from travelling to an airport at 10pm and just wants to go home we were supposed to get on our flight 24 hours ago."
The Powell family were due to attend a three-day trial at 9am on Monday morning to give evidence at Bristol Crown Court but were forced to cancel due to the flight tissues. Mrs Powell said: "We were then told by email we would be put on the 1.20 am flight to Manchester on May 30 with a coach transfer to Bristol. Families were checking online themselves for the status of said flight and rumours were going around that it was cancelled.
"Sure enough, when we arrived at the airport and unloaded our luggage we did not even enter the airport as the information board displayed that our flight was again cancelled.
"My daughters burst into tears with the anxiety and just wanted to go home," she added.
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