Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Dublin Live
Dublin Live
National
Clare McCarthy & Kim O'Leary

Dublin Airport-bound passengers stranded in Greece after flight cancelled three times

A group of 150 Irish tourists were left stranded in Greece after their flight home was cancelled three times.

It is understood that the TUI flight from Rhodes to Dublin was first due to depart on Saturday, May 28, but was cancelled a few hours before.

The passengers were placed in a hotel overnight with a second flight scheduled to depart for Dublin Airport on Sunday, although this flight was also cancelled.

Read more: Government to consider renting Citywest Hotel to house Ukrainian refugees for two years

A third flight was due to depart at 6pm local time today but also did not leave and passengers have since been told it will now depart at 4.50am on Tuesday.

Many tourists in the group have been left unable to get back to work after the flight was cancelled multiple times.

Pauline Ward from Wicklow, who is part of the stranded group along with her husband and two children, told the Irish Mirror how passengers have been affected by the travel disruptions: "I'm self-employed so I should be at work, my husband should be at work," she said.

"There's a woman here today who ran out of medication. It was really serious, she had to get her medication. She got it but it's things like that.

"We're just fed up and want to go home."

She said the most frustrating thing has been the lack of information from TUI and being brought out to the airport each time to find out the flight has been cancelled again.

"We're constantly packing, we're constantly getting bits out of the bag, we're going around in circles," she said.

Read more: Monkeypox Ireland: Second case confirmed as HSE issue symptoms warning

"And there's no information from anybody. We're getting information from the Irish Embassy. TUI themselves have not been in contact."

TUI blamed "operational issues" and "the sudden increase in people going on holidays" for the cancellations but is facing a number of customer complaints online.

Paddy Cunningham, who has friends in the group stuck in Rhodes, tweeted the travel company, writing: "There's a whole host of people stranded with no way home. Absolutely shocking."

Read more: Dublin Airport queues: Woman nearly fainted when she saw 'the horror that was waiting for me'

In a statement to the Irish Mirror, a spokesperson for TUI said: "We’d like to apologise to customers travelling on flight TOM1651 from Rhodes to Dublin 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 were provided with meals while we worked through a new flight plan.

"We were in regular contact with customers and advised them of their new departure time as soon as we could. The flight will now depart for Dublin at 04:50 local time on Tuesday 31 May.

"The May half-term holidays are always an incredibly busy period with many customers looking to get away, and this year is no different. We understand that many of our customers have been looking forward to these holidays, as it’s the first peak period in more than two years that hasn’t been impacted by border closures and mass testing requirements.

"While flight delays and cancellations with us are rare, unfortunately the sudden increase in people going on holidays combined with various operational and supply chain issues, has meant that a small number of our flights have been impacted.

"Our teams have been working tirelessly to support affected customers and we continue to work closely with our airport partners to monitor the situation and provide the best possible holiday experience for our customers. We’d like to thank them for their patience and understanding at this time."

Read more: RTE Claire Byrne Live viewers hear passenger suffered epileptic seizure during Dublin Airport queueing chaos

Read more: Taoiseach Micheal Martin slams 'unacceptable' Dublin Airport scenes but rules out deploying army

Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.