A SCOTS family have been left heartbroken after easyJet cancelled their summer holiday with just a few hours notice.
Ross was set to jet off from Glasgow to Enfidha, in Tunisia, on Thursday for a sunshine holiday with his wife and two daughters.
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But after waking up in the early hours of the morning to get ready to head to the airport, he received a text saying their flight, which had been due to leave at 7.20am, had been cancelled.
In a desperate bid to get their holiday, the family headed to the airport to try and speak to easyJet staff at the travel hub.
The dad hit out at the airline after no staff members were found and they were told to sort out their holiday themselves or “go home and wait”.
After phoning the airline’s call centre numerous times, the family were offered seats on a flight from Birmingham at 3.20pm.
But Ross said they were told they had to make their own way to the city, which “wasn’t possible”, meaning their whole holiday was cancelled as a result.
Speaking to Glasgow Live, Ross said: “It has been a complete shambles.”
It was heartbreaking… the kids don’t understand. They were standing just sobbing their hearts out. This whole process has been a complete disaster
Ross
But he said the worst part of the experience was seeing how upset his two daughters were after they had been looking forward to the holiday for months.
The family booked the trip to Tunisia back in January and they had all been counting down until it was time to go.
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Ross added: “It was heartbreaking.
“The whole thing was already an inconvenience for us but the kids don’t understand.
“They were standing just sobbing their hearts out. This whole process has been a complete disaster.
“We are never going to use easyJet again.”
Ross and his wife managed to book another holiday on flights which leave tomorrow, however, it means they have forked out almost £5,000.
However, easyJet only agreed to refund the cost of the axed flights – which was around £1,700 – and will take around a week or two to process.
Until the family receives the refund receipt from the airline, Ross is unable to claim any money back through his insurance.
It has been a complete shambles… We are never going to use easyJet again
Ross
Ross and his family were just some of many passengers whose holidays were affected after easyJet cancelled a number of flights across both Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports on Thursday.
A flight from Glasgow to Tunisia set to leave just after 6am was also taxed with just 65 minutes’ notice.
Passengers were told by a customer service employee from easyJet’s call centre that the cancellation was due to storms that had affected UK flights.
A flight from Crete to Edinburgh that was set to leave at 11.35pm last night was also cancelled, with crews blaming it on a “technical issue” on the aircraft.
Holidaygoers heading to London, Malaga, and from Turkey and Greece have claimed to have been left stranded with no accommodation.
And we previously told how a bride slammed easyJet after the airline cancelled her flight for her wedding with just a few hour’s notice.
Sarah Machete was set to jet off from Edinburgh to Naples on Thursday morning for her special day this week.
EasyJet has posted on its website explaining that the cancellations are due to “air traffic control issues” which were “outside of our control”.
According to the Independent, the airline said it had been impacted due to different slots and times being re-allocated to flights from Eurocontrol
Eurocontrol is an international organisation that works to achieve smooth air traffic management across Europe.
AXED FIGHTS ADVICE
EASYJET have shared information on their website about what you need to do if your flight is cancelled. It says:
If your flight is cancelled, there are several options available to you, which you can request quickly and easily by logging into Manage Bookings here on our website or via our easyJet App:
- Switch to another flight for free.
- Choose a voucher for the full value of your booking.
- Request a refund.
Visit our Disruption Help Hub to find out more. For information on your entitlements, please visit our notice of rights page.
If your flight is cancelled, and the next available flight is not until the following day, we can offer you a hotel room for the night if you need one. Where eligible you can request a room after you’ve transferred onto a new flight on our app or in Manage Bookings.
If you require a wheelchair accessible room, please contact our Customer Services Team who will be happy to book you a room that meets your requirements.
If you’re at the airport and are unable to log onto the internet, our Ground Crew will be able to help you.
We will always do our best to provide customers with overnight accommodation. In times of widespread disruption that’s not always possible so we may ask you to find your own accommodation.
If your flight has been cancelled, we will try to get you an easyJet flight to your final destination within 24 hours of your original flight.
You can search for available flights and choose which one you want to transfer on to on Manage Bookings.
If there are no flights available to get you to your destination within 24 hours, you have the option to transfer to another airline, take a train, bus, or hire a car to complete your journey within that time.
And a spokesperson told the Independent that the network has been impacted by severe weather and thunderstorms across central and southeast Europe.
As a result of pilots’ manoeuvring around the thunderstorms to avoid them, flow regulations have been disrupted.
This in turn has reduced the number of planes that air-traffic controllers can handle safely at one time.
An easyJet spokesperson told Glasgow Live: “We’re sorry that, due to the impact of air traffic control restrictions caused by adverse weather, flight EZY3171 from Glasgow to Tunisia on 27 June was unable to operate.
“We have been doing all possible to minimise the impact of the disruption, providing hotel accommodation and meals for those who require them and offering those on cancelled flights a refund or free transfer to an alternative flight.
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“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and while this was outside of our control, we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
EasyJet has been approached for comment.