Derek and Meryl Hesketh were scheduled to fly back to Manchester from Tenerife on Saturday evening with easyJet, but claim they were left stranded at the airport
A furious couple say they were left at an airport ‘without accommodation’ after their easyJet flight was delayed by 22 hours.
Derek and Meryl Hesketh, from Southport, were due to fly back to Manchester Airport from Tenerife on Saturday evening at 8.30pm – but an afternoon email from the budget airline told them that their flight had been ‘delayed overnight’, throwing their travel plans up in the air.
They were told they would instead take off at 6.30pm on Sunday. The delay was blamed on air traffic control restrictions enforced due to thick fog causing havoc at airports across the UK, including Manchester. Derek, 59, and Meryl, 56, who is disabled, claimed the email from easyJet said they would be offered a hotel room for the night if they needed one and to “speak to our ground crew who will be happy to help you”.
This email is said to have warned passengers against booking their own accommodation as they wouldn’t be able to claim back the cost. However, after checking out of their rental villa and returning the keys to their hire car, the couple claimed they were told by easyJet staff that there was ‘nothing they could do’ for them.
EasyJet has since apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers booked on the flight, attributing the delay to ‘adverse weather’ in the UK.
Speaking to Manchester Evening News while he was stuck in the airport, Derek said: “When we eventually found some easyJet staff, which wasn’t easy, they said there was nothing they could do. They said they couldn’t book us any hotels. But we got there early and I don’t even think they had started trying.”
Derek continued: “They are claiming everywhere is fully booked. It is busy on the island but I looked online and there were rooms, but they were very expensive, about £1,000 a night. I just don’t think they were willing to pay that for everyone. We certainly can’t afford that.
“We’re just waiting around to see what happens. But the staff have disappeared now. We’ve not been given any food or drinks vouchers as we were told we would be.”
Derek described the scene: “There’s not even anywhere to sit, we’re just stood around. There’s loads of us here in the same boat. Elderly people, young kids, disabled people like my wife. I’m just hoping the airport don’t throw us out into the cold later as they’ve said they might.”
Derek admitted feeling “trapped and frustrated”, and said that while “the fog is fair enough”, he was unhappy at “the way we have been treated”. “We did what we were told, we came here and they’ve just left us in the lurch, it’s not on”, he added. An easyJet spokesperson told Lancs Live: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and while this is outside of our control, we are very sorry for the inconvenience this will have caused and our team in the airport are doing all they can to assist customers with their options for this evening.”
