Furious Scots families were left to sleep on the floor at Antalya airport for six hours after TUI axed their flight home while they waited at the gate.
The Glasgow-bound flight was due to leave Turkey at 10.40pm on Tuesday night before it was cancelled without any warning while the holidaymakers waited at departures.
After spending several hours waiting for an update, exhausted families curled up on the floor of the airport. At 5.30am, passengers were shipped off to a hotel while the airline tried to organise alternative flights. The holidaymakers were then brought back to the airport on Wednesday and told they would be split between flights to Doncaster, Manchester and Birmingham and a bus would be put on to take them to Scotland.
Mum Janie Harlie, from Greenock, was caught up in the chaos. The 43-year-old told the Record: "As a family we will never use TUI ever again. This was by far and away the most appalling customer service I have every experienced.
"Our holiday was fabulous - but our nightmare started on the way home. We got no assistance when we needed it most. The passengers rallied together to help each other as this was the only way we could communicate information.
"We were travelling with two parents in their 70's and a six-year-old. They spent hours sitting on the floor in arrivals and our boy Noah had to sleep on the floor.
"Parents used suitcases to allow their small children to sleep and no food or drink was offered from the airline. We got to the hotel at 6.30am this morning after being in the airport from 8pm yesterday. It has been unbelievable."
Passengers were waiting to board the night-time flight when they were told the gate had changed. After moving, a member of staff told those at the front of the queue the flight had been cancelled.
The furious holidaymakers then waited two hours to collect their suitcases.
School business manager Janie added: "After we arrived back at the airport we met one family who had stayed all night in a cafe with kids aged nine, 10, 11 and 15. They had no information and were left at the airport.
"We called TUI several times on the help number and they did not help. At one point the rep who put us back at arrivals just left."
Caroline Alexander, 43, from Turriff in Aberdeenshire, forked out £650 on flights from Birmingham to Aberdeen because her partner had work the next morning. The hairdresser was travelling home from a luxury fortnight break with her partner Bill and kids Lexi, 12 and Chelsea, eight, when they got caught up in the chaos.
Caroline told the Record: "We are so angry. If they had just kept us updated it wouldn't be so bad but we have had no communication.
"When the flight was cancelled no one knew what was happening and lots of people were sleeping on floor. My daughter slept in her suitcase.
"Finally we got a hotel room at 6am. They picked us back up at 11am to sort flights, but we didn't know which flight we would be on.
"It turned out we were on the Manchester flight which would have been a four or five hour bus journey to Glasgow then a further three hour drive from Glasgow to Turriff. My partner is due offshore to work tomorrow and the cats can’t get longer in the cattery than 6pm, so we have to get home tonight.
"We managed to change to the Birmingham flight as we can get a flight to Aberdeen tonight which we have had to sort ourselves and is costing us £650.
"We are hoping we will get that money back - we'll have to get our car from Glasgow at some point. We are so angry, my head feels like it's going to burst."
Connor Ferguson, a sales advisor from Dundee, was also caught up in the carnage.
The 27-year-old added: "It's been handled very poorly. We were told the flight was cancelled by another passenger because the staff only told the people at the front of the queue. There was no tannoy announcement.
"After over six hours 46 of us were then taken to a hotel. I had to pay for WiFi to contact home and check my emails regarding the flight. It's been infuriating. There's been no duty of care.
"We weren't offered so much as any water for six hours in a busy Turkish airport. It's been horrible. It's left our holiday on a really sour note."
A TUI spokesperson said: "We fully understand the frustration from customers due to travel back from Antalya to Glasgo Unfortunately, the aircraft required additional engineering inspections which took longer than expected, and it had to remain in Antalya overnight.
"To get customers home as quickly as possible, we arranged for them to travel on various flights into the UK on 26 July and provided transport back to Glasgow. Those who couldn’t be allocated flights on the same day were given a generous amount to spend on meals, transfers and overnight accommodation and they are booked to fly home today.
"All customers were sent direct text messages with all the required information and we’d like to thank them for their patience and understanding."
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