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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
National
Jake Brigstock

TUI passengers told to 'make your own way home' as staff 'cry'

Passengers have claimed that TUI staff were left "crying" after a flight was delayed by 24 hours and then diverted to London Gatwick Airport on Monday (June 27). No buses were organised to transfer them to Bristol and travellers said they were told to "make their own way home".

One passenger said children and pregnant women were left "freezing and tired" after travellers on the plane from Lanarca, Cyprus, complained about the lack of transport. One said staff were left in tears due to the situation, reports MyLondon.

She Tweeted: "@TUI You left diverted passengers at Gatwick with no bus to take them back to Bristol Airport and your staff crying because of the situation. 24 hour delayed from Larnaca [Cyprus] and then this. Passengers told to find their own way home."

READ MORE: Family battle TUI plane chaos before holiday to Crete is cancelled

Another traveller similarly tweeted: "Disgusting service from @TUIUK a plane full of people stuck at @Gatwick_Airport after being diverted here instead of Bristol and no buses laid on to transfer us... Small children, families and pregnant women freezing and tired."

A third passenger on the troubled flight from Larnaca tweeted at 4.30am: "Lied to again - there are no coaches to get us to Bristol. Gatwick apparently had no idea we were coming. This is utterly shambolic. Started this journey at 10.30pm Sunday night #tui."

Another tweeted: "@TUIUK arriving at Gatwick North terminal instead of Bristol after yesterday flight being cancelled, having no TUI rep, no coaches and when they do arrive saying it’s not her responsibility, only families with children are priority and there were no coaches so people are still waiting."

A TUI spokesperson said: "We'd like to apologise to customers travelling on TOM6765 from Larnaca to Bristol Airport on 27 June, which was diverted to London Gatwick Airport due to operational issues. Our teams worked hard to secure transfers back to Bristol for all customers, however, transport strikes in London meant this took longer than usual.

"We understand that last-minute delays and diversions are incredibly disappointing and would like to reassure customers that we do everything we can to get them home as planned. We communicated with customers as quickly as we could including offering transport, overnight accommodation, meals and refreshments as needed.

"We'd like to apologise again for the inconvenience and we thank customers for their understanding."

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