A hen party which included a number of teachers endured a "horrendous" experience when their easyJet flight home from Portugal was delayed by more than 17 hours.
Ffion Williams described how the party underwent a series of delays after they were due to fly to Bristol airport from Faro on Sunday, June 5 at 10.10pm. The 32-year-old said their flight did not depart until 2.30pm the following day (June 6).
It meant many of the group were unable to make it back to work on Monday following the Jubilee bank holiday weekend. Ffion claimed that for the duration of the delay - including overnight - the party had no choice but to camp on the airport floor.
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She told Wales Online they were initially told to expect a delay of one hour. But after checking in their bags, further delays kept coming. Then, it was announced that the flight was overbooked and not everyone would be able to get on.
Ffion said: "The flight was overbooked by eight people. Obviously everyone ran to get into a queue because nobody wanted to stay in the airport". A later announcement said the crew had flown for 12 hours and the flight would have to be cancelled.
Ffion, from South Wales, continued: "We were told there would be an update by 12pm on Monday as to when our next flight would be. There were no staff there to ask what to do. EasyJet's app crashed so we couldn't even get on there. We were sat on the airport floor until 1.30pm on Monday."
Ffion said leaflets were shared out to passengers, urging them to call easyJet for advice, however, phone lines were down because of the bank holiday weekend. She claimed no hotel was offered overnight her group - who ranged in age from their early 20s to late 50s.
EasyJet, who have apologised for the experience, said that it reimburses accommodation expenses and are looking into why some customers were incorrectly informed and remained in the airport at Faro. Ffion said it was "horrendous".
She said the shops closed shortly after they arrived, and that the group was offered no food vouchers, water or blankets. Ffion added: "I didn't get any sleep, although some of the others managed to get 20 minutes or so."
One of the hens is a diabetic, and Ffion said she became ill when her blood sugar levels dropped because of the lack of food. She said: "Not once were we checked and asked if we were on medication or anything. One of our girls is a diet-controlled diabetic and she was unwell because she had no food for so long. We had to get her sweets when the shops opened as she had a mini hypo."
By 1.30pm on Monday, Ffion said she and the other hens were relieved to finally be seated on the plane. However, there was yet another delay according to Ffion, who claimed passengers had to wait for an hour on the plane before it finally took off at 2.30pm. She also claimed that the flight had been overbooked again and around six passengers had to stay in Faro.
Ffion said she arrived back in the UK at around 5.15pm on Monday. She said she still felt "exhausted" on Tuesday.
Ffion said she hoped for an apology, but most of all that the airline learned from her experience. She said: "I understand they can't help the delays and that pilots can only fly for a certain number of hours, but the issue is the way it was dealt with. I would definitely like an apology, but going forward, knowing there is carnage in all the airports at the moment, they should have representatives on the floor checking on passengers."
A spokeswoman for easyJet said: "We are very sorry that Ms Williams flight EZY6010 from Faro to Bristol on 5 June was cancelled. Customers were notified directly of their options to rebook or receive a refund and offered to provide hotel accommodation and meals where required. We reimburse accommodation expenses and so we are looking into why some customers were incorrectly informed and remained in the airport at Faro. We understand the impact this caused to their plans and we are very sorry. Our team will be reaching out to Ms Williams to apologise for her experience and support with processing her expenses."
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