A mother and son missed out on their £1,500 summer holiday to Tenerife after their flight was cancelled twice in a two-day delay nightmare. Kelly Clarke and her nine-year-old son Toby booked to fly with TUI from Manchester Airport, with the first flight set to be around 5.50pm on May 30.
The family arrived at the airport early and were met by long queues for restaurants and nowhere to sit down. They eventually boarded their flight three hours after it was meant to depart.
Kelly and her son were then held in “boiling hot” conditions onboard for another three hours – with one little boy even vomiting from stress, Kelly claims. Eventually, armed police were forced to board the aircraft and escort all passengers off the plane, she says, the Manchester Evening News reports.
The pair were met with yet more delays as they waited in the baggage claim area for over an hour. Passengers were eventually told their flight had been cancelled and that there would be another available the following day.
The family eventually boarded their flight three hours after its original departure time. They were then held in “boiling hot” conditions onboard for another three hours – with one little boy even vomiting from stress, Kelly claims. Eventually, armed police were forced to board the aircraft and escort all passengers off the plane, she says.
The family then paid for a taxi home to Stretford at 2am before returning to the airport the following day – only for the nightmare to repeat again. Kelly, 42, said : “It was just absolutely ridiculous – (ground crew) loaded half the bags on and disappeared. The pilot said they had abandoned us.
“We got through passport control and baggage and waited at the baggage area for an hour-and-a-half. There was a woman there trying to deal with us all and said there would be a flight tomorrow.
“The next day we got to the airport at 1pm and went through the whole thing again with delays, no one knew what was going on. We were at the gate for two-and-a-half hours and we could see the baggage next to the plane, no one was loading it. Everyone was watching from the window.
“We saw the baggage get driven away and I thought, that’s it. They’ve ditched us again. Everyone was not happy. Kids were heartbroken; they were crying. It was awful.”
Kelly claims TUI offered passengers yet another flight for the following day – but she refused to take the risk and spend all night worrying. “They said it could potentially happen tomorrow and we’d have another night of no sleep,” she continued. “I said I wasn’t doing it. There was no point in going away for three days.”
Wedding photographer Kelly has since been offered £350 delay compensation but is still awaiting a refund on her package holiday from TUI, which cost around £1,500. “I’ve still heard absolutely nothing from them,” she added. “I can’t get through to TUI at all.”
