A family of nine which included an 18-month-old baby and a woman with a heart condition have been left stranded in Croatia after an air traffic systems failure caused widespread chaos across UK airports.
Lauren Harding, 36, and her partner had been saving “for years” for her brother’s 40th celebration in Dubrovnik, which was going to be a chance for the wider family to come together on holiday.
After travelling to the airport on Wednesday evening, they were left dismayed to receive an email cancelling their 10.30pm EasyJet flight – an hour after it had been due to depart.
“The most horrific part of this situation has been the fact that there was no representation from EasyJet at Dubrovnik airport to relay any information to us regarding the disruption and what this would entail for customers.
“We were unable to book a flight home until 2 August and were then informed by the app that there were no hotels available and we would need to try and find our own accommodation.”
Adding to their distress, Mrs Harding’s 66-year-old mother suffered a serious heart attack last January, and is now dependent on medication to stabilise her condition.
“As you can imagine, we are extremely upset and anxious,” she said. “It’s bad enough to be delayed, but it’s the lack of help and information available that has made this whole ending a complete nightmare. We still have had zero contact and cannot seem to make contact with anyone either.”
Due to the limited accommodation in the area, they have now managed to book a room at a three-star hotel, which does not have a cot for their baby.
Despite emailing the CEO of EasyJet and their customer services, they are unsure if they will be able to reclaim their lost finances through the airline or through insurance.
“It has been so stressful and exhausting! We’re still worried about trying to get medication for mum so not being able to talk to anyone from easyJet has been so unnerving,” she said.
“The children are so worried about the Nan and I know mum is trying to put on a brave face but it feels like she’s in a dire situation and not knowing if this could potentially turn into a critical matter. It’s horrifying.”
The family are now due to return to London Gatwick on Saturday morning, but have now had to budget for an additional three nights.
They are not the only passengers to be left disgruntled on Thursday, with Karyn Harris and her husband left waiting at Gatwick for over nine hours to board their flight to Arrecife.
They had been due to depart at 6.10am for a summer getaway, but were left with little information throughout the morning, and only given £12 each for the delay from the airline.
Another woman has been left devastated after being forced to miss a friend’s wedding because her flight was cancelled on Thursday.
Monica Clare, 68, from Brentford, west London, was onboard an Aer Lingus plane preparing to take off from Heathrow for Shannon, Ireland, when the problem began.
She said the plane remained on the tarmac for about three hours before the captain announced his “shift was going to finish” so the passengers would need to return to the terminal.
The retired maintenance manager returned home after being told Aer Lingus had no available seats on flights which would enable her to attend her friend’s wedding in Limerick on Friday.
She said other routes, such as travelling to a port and taking a ferry, were impractical and too expensive after already paying out for flights.
Ms Clare said: “I’m absolutely numb. I’m so upset. I’m heartbroken.
“It’s disgraceful. I think it’s absolutely unbelievable in this day and age that something that went down for 20 minutes has caused havoc like that all over the country.
Officials have said a “radar-related issue” caused the air traffic control (ATC) failure that grounded flights across the UK on Wednesday.
National Air Traffic Services (Nats) chief executive Martin Rolfe was summoned to speak with transport secretary Heidi Alexander on Thursday morning, a day after thousands of passengers were disrupted by the technical problem which forced the cancellation of more than 150 flights.
A spokesperson for Nats said: “This was a radar-related issue which was resolved by quickly switching to the back-up system during which time we reduced traffic to ensure safety.
“There is no evidence that this was cyber related.”
EasyJet have been approached for comment.
