A stranded Wizz Air passenger who was sent to three hotels after her flight was cancelled said she "broke down" and "begged" the airline for help.
Rosie Gardner, 28, booked to fly from Gatwick Airport to Catania, Italy in June with her husband and two young children, aged two and 18 months, but was told at the gate their journey had been axed.
After taking an hour and a half to go back through passport control and baggage reclaim, the family were rebooked onto another flight in two days' time and told they could stay in a hotel beforehand.
Rosie told the Mirror: "We thought it was finally over but we were very sadly mistaken. We got to the Crowne Plaza only to be told there was no booking and no room.
"When I called the member of staff saying 'I need to know where my children are sleeping tonight' I was told he would deal with it and to wait. After two hours we got the call that they would get a taxi to take us all to a new hotel in Croydon."
But the nightmare was far from over, with the mum arriving at the second hotel only to again find out there had been no booking confirmed.
Rosie, who was travelling to Italy so her children could meet their dad's family for the first time, continued: "At this point we had no rest, proper food or water since 4am and were all emotional and tired. My two-year-old was sleeping in the hotel bar at one point.
"So after calling again and breaking down and begging for help, telling him that it’s now a health and safety matter, we were sent to a hotel in Brighton and got there at 8.30pm.
"At this point we were too exhausted to complain and were just pleased to have a bed to put our children in.
"Overall I can’t fault the hotel staff as they helped so much when they didn’t have to. I do blame Wizz Air for showing such little care and empathy for customers."
She added: "The whole experience has left us stressed, exhausted and totally put us off flying in the future because it has caused nothing but emotional and physical pain."
Rosie was not the only passenger left frustrated at Wizz Air on June 6 - Emma and Kevin Wood, both 51 from Hampshire, had also planned to fly to Sicily with the airline.
Kevin said there had been “no help at all” from the company, with Emma adding: “They just said basically said try and rebook it online or on their website.”
Wizz Air said in an earlier statement: "We are so sorry that too many of our passengers are being subjected to current delays and, in some cases, cancellations.
"Due to industry wide disruptions affecting several airlines operating at Gatwick Airport over the past few days, there has been a severe lack of nearby accommodation for passengers who require it.
"In this instance, our ground handling partners did their utmost to ensure passengers could be allocated accommodation. This search for available rooms unfortunately resulted in passengers being transferred between hotels.
"Whilst every cancellation is regrettable, the vast majority of our flights are operating as planned, with more than 100,000 passengers reaching their destinations each day.
"We’d like to offer our sincere apologies again to those customers whose travel plans have been affected as we do understand how disappointed they are, particularly when so many people want and deserve to travel the world again."
The complaints follow some 225 departures from UK airports being cancelled between over a five-day period earlier this year, according to aviation data firm Cirium.
That compares with 24 during the corresponding half-term week last year.
Travel consultancy The PC Agency estimated that at least 15,000 passengers were affected by "last-minute changes" to flights on Sunday.
Chief executive Paul Charles said this caused "major knock-on effects" and "it will take three days to clear the backlog".
UK airline passengers were hit by disruption for several months due to a lack of staff after letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus pandemic.
Airlines, airports and ground handling companies repeatedly called for sector-specific financial support during the Covid-19 crisis as Government travel restrictions suppressed demand. They are now struggling to recruit new staff and have their security checks processed.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had rejected calls to open the door to more "cheap" overseas workers in a bid to relieve the pressure on the aviation sector.
Asked whether he would temporarily allow more foreign workers into the industry to alleviate staffing pressures, he previously told the BBC's Sunday Morning programme: "The answer can't always be to reach for the lever marked 'More immigration'.
"There is not some pull that is going to relieve this."
