A family waiting patiently for their flight to leave Birmingham Airport for 22 hours were fuming when it was finally cancelled and they were sent home.
Vaughn Brayne was hoping to take off to Spain on Friday with his pregnant girlfriend and three-year-old son when they were beset by delays.
Eventually nearly a whole day after they arrived at the airport they were told to go home.
Vaughn told Birmingham Live said: "After spending nearly £3,000 and 22 hours later I’m told to just go home by staff that don’t even work for the airline.
Have you been caught up in the chaos at Birmingham Airport? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk
“I’m absolutely fuming and appalled by the treatment I received.
"My pregnant girlfriend [sought] medical help from the police because there were no staff at all. She had swollen feet, a bad back.
He added: "We were given a thirty-pound voucher and had to go through security twice.
"It was a whole family holiday. The fourth flight they offered me was a twelve hour all-round flight and coach trip which should have been just a two-hour flight."
Vaughn claimed TUI tried to send him to two different parts of Spain which would have entailed a seven-hour coach trip to his hotel.
TUI said: " The half-term holidays are always an incredibly busy period with many customers looking to getaway. Unfortunately, due to various operational and supply chain issues, a small number of flights have been delayed or cancelled.
"We'd like to reassure customers that we are doing everything we can to minimise delays and will be in direct communication should their holiday be impacted. We'd like to thank customers for their patience and understanding during this time."
Earlier this week all easyJet flights have been delayed or cancelled due to a huge technical failure.
Thousands of passengers have been left confused and surrounded by chaos after the systems crashed causing planes to be grounded.
The airline giant apologised to travellers for the problem and confirmed all flights due to leave the country between 1pm and 3pm were affected.
As few as two flights, to Mallorca and Thessaloniki, in Greece, from Gatwick airport were allowed to leave.
All other flights were delayed or cancelled as a result of the problem.
EasyJet said: "We are very sorry for the late notice of some of these cancellations and inconvenience caused for customers booked on these flights, however, we believe this is necessary to provide reliable services over this busy period.
"Customers are being informed from today (Friday) and provided with the option to rebook their flight or receive a refund and can apply for compensation in line with regulations. Over the next week we will be operating around 1,700 flights per day, with around a quarter of these operating to and from Gatwick."
