A woman has described the hellish two days she spent after easyJet cancelled two of her flights from two different airports which left her sobbing on the floor in Gatwick.
Sarah Thomas, 38, from Rumney in Cardiff, booked a holiday to Turkey for herself and family three years ago. Because of Covid the holiday was delayed time and again. However on Thursday, May 26, they were due to fly with easyJet from Bristol Airport for a long overdue break.
“I am a nervous flyer anyway,” she told WalesOnline. “They then delayed it because they said there was something wrong with the plane. Five minutes later they said it was cancelled. The plane was there. We were literally looking at it. There were other people there who were going to their wedding. You can get more travel news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Read more: Incredible scenes outside Cardiff train station as thousands of Ed Sheeran fans can't even get in the station
She claimed: “When they cancelled we were told we weren't allowed to leave the gate because we had to go through immigration. Even though we hadn’t been anywhere. They said that a person from easyJet would be waiting in the baggage reclaim area to help us. When we got there, there was no-one around."
She said they were on the phone for hours before easyJet booked them onto another flight from Gatwick the following evening. She claimed the airline also told her they would book her and her family (which included her disabled sister and two daughters) a hotel at the airport if they could get there under their own steam.
The family therefore paid £350 for a taxi from Bristol to Gatwick but once they were in the taxi they asked easyJet which hotel they should go to. They claimed the airline said that, instead, they needed to book it themselves and claim the money back. Single mum, Sarah, therefore paid another £207 for the hotel. Their flight wasn’t due to leave until late on Friday evening, but given that their hotel checkout was 2pm, they had to spend over seven hours in the airport. You can read more stories about Cardiff here.
Despite the long wait, the family were called to go to the gate to finally get their flight. Sarah’s youngest (age five) was particularly excited saying this was going to be “the best day of my life”.
However, when they arrived at the gate at Gatwick there was another announcement.
“When we got to the gate again they just said it was cancelled,” said Sarah. “No explanation why. I literally broke down. My legs went beneath me. I was on the floor crying my eyes out. I couldn’t believe this was happening again. Not just one flight but two. We had travelled all the way to Gatwick.”
The family were then stuck at the airport and claimed they received no support from the airline. This is how you can claim hundreds of pounds in compensation if your flight is delayed this summer.
“We had nowhere to go,” said Sarah, claiming: “There was no-one from easyJet. We managed to wait outside with my five-year-old for a coach. We got back at 5am and had to spend £120 to get back. Both kids were crying their eyes out last night. It was heartbreaking.”
Sarah has vowed never to fly with easyJet again and is claiming compensation. She has booked another flight with a different provider for Friday and is desperate that this time it will not be cancelled.
easyJet has confirmed that about 24 flights a day from London's Gatwick airport will be cancelled between May 28 and June 6. It is understood that the cancellations are due to an issue with an IT system. You can read more about that here.
An easyJet spokeswoman said: "On Thursday 26 May easyJet experienced some IT systems issues and while this was rectified later that afternoon, some flights across the network were unfortunately cancelled as a result, including Ms. Thomas’ flight from Bristol to Dalaman.
“We were able to reroute Ms Thomas via London Gatwick to connect to onward flights to Dalaman the following evening. Unfortunately, their flight from London Gatwick to Dalaman was subsequently also cancelled.
“We provided customers with options to rebook or receive a full refund for all cancelled flights, however we nonetheless fully understand the disruption this will have caused to their plans and we are very sorry for this.
“We are reaching out to Ms Thomas to apologise for her experience, to reimburse her in full for her expenses and provide compensation in line with regulations. ”
Find out about traffic and travel issues where you live:
