Harriet Morphy-Morris was among the hundreds of passengers to be impacted by the two easyJet planes colliding at Manchester Airport, which caused delays throughout Friday
A holidaymaker who has been delayed more than four hours after two easyJet planes collided into each other has spoken of her “frustration” at only being given a £3 food and drink voucher by the airline.
Harriet Morphy-Morris had been due to fly back to Manchester from Gibraltar but is instead facing long delays after two easyJet aircrafts “clipped wings” on the runway early on Friday. The flights, due to take off at around 6:15am, were bound for Gibraltar and Paris, respectively, but after the collision passengers were forced to disembark.
Flights were temporarily stopped as a precaution at Manchester Airport, with easyJet arranging for replacement aircrafts to take affected passengers to their eventual destinations. As a result of the disruption, Harriet and her partner have been stuck at Gibraltar Airport and have been told their scheduled 10:55am flight will now not depart until 3:15pm.
READ MORE: Drunk air passenger celebrating birthday kicked off flight before it’s even taken offREAD MORE: Moment family attacks woman complaining over child kicking chair on flight
The 27-year-old, who has been in Gibraltar since Wednesday, told Mirror Online that impacted passengers have been told very little, with each person offered a mere £3 voucher to spend on food or drink. Harriet says the voucher was enough for her to purchase a coffee, while her partner bought a Coke. Food options she could have purchased include a “small chocolate bar or a packet of crisps, but then no drink”.
Harriet, a Tech Commerce Content Editor for central affiliates at Reach, said: “We have not been told anything by easyJet. Just that we are delayed and here is a £3 voucher. It’s a £3 voucher per person I believe.
“It’s a little bit frustrating. I know what Gibraltar Airport is like and it really isn’t that big at all. There is one café. There is only one flight a day so if this one is further delayed or is cancelled there probably won’t be anything else.”
Harriet, who lives near Chester, has been waiting by the gate for a number of hours, along with around 80 other people. “There is lots of waiting around,” she said. “A table next to us, who were a family of four with a teenager who looked around 14, the mum said she couldn’t even get a water with the voucher.”
She added: “People around are starting to seem a little more frustrated, and there’s seven different families I can see with small kids. Again, the one thing which is strange, no communication from easyJet apart from updated times on the app and food voucher hand out.”
After the two planes “clipped wings”, airport staff carried out safety checks of the surrounding area before flights were able to resume. One image shared online shows a worker with part of an easyJet wing in his hand as the debris of the collision is cleared.
One flyer, who was due to travel to Marbella, said: “Just on the plane at Manchester Airport and another plane has just hit our wing and took the wing off.” Another said: “Not the best start to the day for easyJet with two of their planes apparently colliding at Manchester Airport, half a wingtip missing from one!”
An easyJet spokesperson said: “EasyJet can confirm that the wing tips of two aircraft came into contact whilst taxiing to the runway at Manchester Airport this morning. The aircraft returned to stand to disembark customers who have been provided with refreshment vouchers whilst replacement aircraft are arranged to operate the flights. We apologise to customers for the delay to their flights. The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority.”
The Mirror has contacted easyJet regarding the value of the food and drink vouchers given to impacted customers.