Hundreds of flyers were left stranded in Spain overnight after an easyJet flight was cancelled due to ‘disruptive passengers’
An easyJet flight to Liverpool was cancelled due to “disruptive passengers” leaving hundreds of people stuck in Spain.
Holidaymakers in Malaga said they heard “shouting and screaming” from a plane they were waiting to board, which was due to leave the Spanish city at 11.25pm local time. Three passengers, who appeared drunk according to an eyewitness, were reportedly hauled off the flight by easyJet staff and Spanish police. Queuing flyers were then take back to the check-in desk where the captain told them, that due to the incident, the plane’s crew were too traumatised to fly the plane back to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
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The flight was then cancelled but several people, speaking to the Liverpool Echo, said they were unhappy with easyJet’s customer service following the abrupt incident.
Some people claimed staff told them to “use an app” to get themselves on a new flight. Many flyers said they had to leave Malaga Airport that night with no accommodation available.
A spokesperson for easyJet has said that crew are required to say if they do not “feel fit to operate”. They apologised for the inconvenience the incident caused however, adding that staff have tried to minimise disruption and promised refunds to any customers who have booked their own accommodation.
Gaynor Loguellou, 64, from Greasby, was due to get on the flight along with her husband, daughter, in-laws and two grandsons and said: “We were about 30ft from the door, sweltering in the glass tunnel and we could hear shouting. These two women walked past us. The Guardia passed us with a man. They were speaking Spanish by the door.
“The ground crew then said, you all have to go back to the desk, the captain wants to speak to you. Then he said, ‘my crew are traumatised, so we’re cancelling your flight.’ We said, you’re joking, we’ve got babies here and are about to get a flight home. He said, ‘it’s my decision, it’s my crew, they are worried about passengers getting on.’”
James Holt, from Manchester, who was travelling back with his partner, was also affected. He said: “We were queuing up for 40 minutes and could tell something was wrong – normally you’re in these queues for about 10 minutes.
“It was after 15 minutes in this queue that we heard shouting and screaming. Then these people were brought off one by one. It was clear they were very intoxicated. After getting back to the desk, the captain told us there had been ‘disruptive passengers and the incident had escalated.’”
Gaynor says the passengers were then told to go on the easyJet app to find another flight, but this proved difficult for her and many older passengers. She was given a flight from Malaga to Gatwick but her group will have to travel in 2 separate flights. They will also miss a hospital appointment for one of her grandsons in Liverpool tomorrow.
Gaynor said: “Then the ground crew turned around and said, go on app and don’t book a flight with someone else – that was it. I said, do you have any idea where you can get baby formula? They didn’t. The app didn’t work – it only let you go so far and wouldn’t let you book another flight. We were just left to our own devices.
“It’s horrendous. EasyJet have been dreadful, absolutely dreadful, there’s no interest in any of their customers. We were feet away from getting our flight. It’s still traumatising now. It’s bad enough having to get a late flight home with two babies. Then the plane we were meant to get back on flew back to Liverpool empty. It completely ruined the holiday.”
An easyJet spokesperson told the Liverpool Echo: “Flight EZY3382 from Malaga to Liverpool was unable to operate due to a disruptive passenger incident on the inbound flight, which led to the crew being unable to operate the return flight. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and our crew have a responsibility in line with safety regulations to declare if they do not feel fit to operate.
“While this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience this will have caused and worked to minimise the impact of the disruption, providing options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals, and will reimburse any customers who booked their own.”