Angry holidaymakers claimed Cardiff Airport was a scene of "pandemonium" on Friday as would-be tourists were forced to stand around for hours not knowing what to do after their flight was pushed back a day at short notice. Passengers arrived at the airport on Friday morning in time for a scheduled flight to Tenerife early on Friday afternoon.
However at first the flight was delayed due to a technical issue and then it was put off altogether and rescheduled for Saturday morning. You can get the latest WalesOnline newsletters emailed to you directly for free by signing up here.
The TUI flight was meant to take off at 2.10pm but after it was confirmed the plane would not depart as planned passengers were told they would be put up in hotels so that they could catch the rearranged trip. However as of 8.30pm they were still waiting at Cardiff Airport not knowing which way to turn. According to Cardiff Airport's departure checker on Friday night the TOM 6554 flight to Tenerife South had been delayed until 8am on Saturday, September 24.
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One family with two young children were waiting outside at one point and claimed there was no sign of any staff from TUI. “We’ve been at the airport since 10am this morning to check-in because there was an issue with the seats we’d booked with TUI,” said Hilary Lynn from Merthyr Tydfil, hoping for a two-week holiday with a party of six which includes two of her infant grandchildren.
“We’ve been waiting outside since 6pm with two young children and now (8.30pm on Friday) we’ve come inside to wait and we’re supposed to have a taxi in 40 minutes to take us to a hotel somewhere in Cardiff. But we’ve also been told that we need to get picked up again at 4.30am tomorrow morning to come back here. We don’t know where we’re going – we haven’t been told anything. There’s not one representative here from TUI.”
Another holiday hopeful caught up in the confusion was Paul Newton from Caerphilly. He was due to travel on the same flight to Tenerife with his wife but they too were left unsure what to do at Cardiff Airport. "It’s been diabolical,” said Mr Newton. “We’ve been here since 11am and they gave us £8 each in vouchers to spend – you can’t even get a McDonald’s for that.
"I really feel for the people here with children. There’s some families here with eight or 10 people and they are really being put through the mill. TUI have had nobody here. My wife had an email saying the flight was cancelled due to technical issues but it’s been badly organised. There’s elderly people here, there’s children – I feel for them. It’s been absolute pandemonium.”
According to Mrs Lynn buses were also arranging to pick people up to take them to hotels in either Cardiff or Newport and bring them back before dawn to catch the rearranged flight. However she and her family have had to get a separate taxi to a hotel in Cardiff Bay due to a lack of family rooms available. "If there had been a TUI representative here I could understand,” she said. “I have tried to get through to them but I can’t. It’s the first family holiday for the kids – I don’t even want to go now.” Cardiff Airport have been asked to comment.
A TUI spokeswoman said: "We fully understand the frustrations of passengers travelling from Cardiff to Tenerife on flight TOM6554 yesterday, which had to be delayed overnight due to technical issues.
"Whilst we do everything we can to get customers away on holiday on time, sometimes there are circumstances beyond our control that don’t make this possible. Our teams kept in touch via text messages throughout the delay and we provided accommodation as needed, as well as refreshment vouchers.
"We can confirm the flight took off at its new departure time of 08.00 this morning (Saturday). We’re sorry for the late start to customers’ holidays and thank everyone for their patience."
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