A family may have to cancel their dream holiday for a second time after their flight was cancelled when they were minutes from boarding. Childminder Larain Sutton, 41, and her husband Colin, 53, had been planning a trip to Hurghada in Egypt with their children Ava, 14, Owen, 12 and six-year-old Imogen.
A trip planned for Easter had to be postponed because the children’s passports were not renewed in time. They were only told their EasyJet flight was being cancelled by a passenger rather than crew.
Larain, from Hampshire said: ‘’Our flight was cancelled when we were in the tunnel about to board. A passenger said ‘the flight has been cancelled’. We went back through the gate. The captain said it was because the limit for flight hours had been reached. Surely they knew how many hours were left, they had already been there and back?
‘’They said ‘go to the EasyJet customer service desk’ but when we went there they said it was online. We were told we can’t rebook through EasyJet and have to book through the travel company Love Holidays. We were on the phone to them both for an hour and a half.
‘’The next flight there is on Saturday. The whole situation is ridiculous. It has been total chaos with no customer service. There is no accountability, both companies are blaming each other. A complete lack of organisation is to blame for the whole situation.’’
Meanwhile, retired engineer David Hall, 65, from Reigate in Surrey, has been waiting since Sunday to get out to the Isle of Man for the TT motorbike races. He said: ‘’On Sunday I breezed through security in eight minutes despite thinking it would take hours.
‘’I got through to departures and was then told it was delayed by an hour. I was then told the delay was half an hour so I was hopeful. Then I was told the flight was cancelled.
‘’We were taken back through arrivals and the man and the women at the gate were completely unhelpful. It is practice week for the TT this week but I will be upset if I can’t go.
‘’The way the airlines are behaving is pathetic. It happened because they sacked all their staff including people I know. They all found better jobs and they won’t go back even though they have been asked to go back.’’
