A mum of an autistic child has told how her family was made to wait for two hours on the runway in an easyJet plane only to be then told the flight had been cancelled.
Nicola Caine said they were due to fly from Manchester Airport to Tenerife at 5.10pm on Monday, but that the trip that they had been waiting for “two years” to go on, quickly turned sour, the Manchester Evening News reported.
The Cheshire mum has told of her "nightmare" experience which included the flight being cancelled twice and her family being forced to sleep on airport floors.
She was travelling with her husband and two children, with the cancellation causing a “huge meltdown” for her 12-year-old son who has autism, it is reported.
First, the passengers were told that the flight was delayed by an hour, until 6.10pm, and Ms Caine said they had arrived at 2pm so as to be there with plenty of time.
Then while they were able to board the plane just after 6pm, the waiting continued as there were problems with “German airspace” and then over “baggage”.
She said: “We were sat on the plane for an hour and a half.
"A pilot came and said ‘unfortunately, due to staff going over their hours, we are going to have to cancel this flight.’
"The reaction on the plane wasn’t good at all. My son broke down in tears and screamed the plane down.
"Then we were told we couldn’t get off the plane because an Emirates plane had just arrived, and they take priority. So we sat on the plane for another 30 minutes.
"Luckily, the staff on the plane were really good, they let us go to the front of the plane to calm my son down."
The problems for the Caine family continued after they got off the easyJet plane as they claimed they were stuck at Manchester Airport without information.
She added Manchester Airport staff advised passengers to download the easyJet app to rebook new flights.
But this was not without issues according to Nicola.
She added: "Everyone was trying to get on the app, but it was crashing. No-one could get on it at all.
"The app didn't work because we were on a package holiday. While we were stood there, two cancelled easyJet flights came through from Turkey and Egypt.
"So we were left, all these people from three flights, not knowing what would happen. Luckily, we live 30 minutes from the airport, so we decided to come home.
"We didn’t know whether to unpack because we didn't know whether we would be going on holiday or not."
At 5:30am, Nicola received a text, telling her to be at Manchester Airport for 10:30am, where a coach would take them to Gatwick Airport to catch a flight to Tenerife at 7:10pm that evening.
"We were absolutely devastated," Nicola explained. "We had not slept all night because my son was crying.
"I just thought, how can I go on a coach for almost five hours and sit in an airport for three hours, and then go on a four and a half hour flight?
"EasyJet said it was a suitable alternative and that we would lose our money if we didn'tgo on that trip."
After arriving at Gatwick Airport, 240 miles away, Nicola booked her son an antigen test as his PCR had run out.
At the gate, waiting to board the flight to Tenerife, the passengers had to wait over 30 minutes while the plane was cleaned.
They were then told by easyJet that they could no longer operate the flight, but stand-by crew would be there for the flight in an hour.
The family were then asked to return to departures, which raised alarm bells for Nicola, who suspected that the flight would be cancelled.
She said: "I questioned the staff because I knew this had happened the night before. They assured me that everything was fine.
"But we had to go back to departures, which was a tell-tale sign that we weren’t getting back on the plane.
"So we went back to departures and stood at the customer service desk for another 45 minutes.
"Again, there were no easyJet people there. At 9pm, we all got an email to say the flight was cancelled."
The passengers were asked to move to another gate and look at new flights on the easyJet app, which angered Nicola.
"I was so angry because Ihad heard it all the night before," she continued.
"I told the staff, this happened at Manchester Airport, we cannot book new flights on the app because we are have a package holiday.
"A police officer advised us to stay in a hotel overnight. We said, why should we have to do that, t here should be a level of service.
"The nearest hotel was £690 for the night.
"We came back to the terminal and met the other passengers, not knowing whether we were going to fly, or get taxis for another four hours to go home- because what if easyJet book us another flight?"
Her 60-year-old mum and children were forced to lay on the floor and across dining table chairs in a bid to get some rest.
"It was an absolute nightmare," Nicola described. "It was freezing cold.
"My husband and I had to lay on the floor. EasyJet didn't even provide food vouchers.
"The children were tired and upset. You wouldn’t even treat animals the way we have been treated."
A spokesperson for easyJet told the Manchester Evening News: "Unfortunately, we were unable to operate the EZY1903 from Manchester to Tenerife on Monday, due to air traffic control restrictions earlier in the day leading to the crew reaching their maximum operating hours.
"We’re very sorry that the flight the family transferred on to from Gatwick was also cancelled.
"We always aim to minimise the impact on our customers, providing them with the options to transfer to an alternative flight free of charge, or receive a refund or a voucher. Our customer team are in touch with the family to talk them through their options."
