A couple claim they were left stranded at Tenerife airport for nearly a day without accommodation after their easyJet flight was delayed by 22 hours. Derek and Meryl Hesketh were scheduled to fly to Manchester Airport from the Spanish island at 8.30pm on Saturday evening with the airline.
However, they received an afternoon email from easyJet informing them their flight had been ‘delayed overnight’ and would now be departing at 6.30pm on Sunday. This comes as air traffic control restrictions were put in place due to heavy fog causing disruption at airports across the UK, including Manchester.
Derek, 59, and Meryl, 56, who is disabled, claim the email from easyJet stated ‘we would like to offer you a hotel room for the night if you need one’ and to ‘speak to our ground crew who will be happy to help you. ‘ It advised passengers against booking their own accommodation as they wouldn’t be able to recoup the cost.
However, after checking out of their rental villa and returning the keys to their hire car, the Southport, Merseyside couple claim they were told by easyJet staff that there was ‘nothing they could do’ for them. EasyJet has apologised for the inconvenience to passengers booked on the flight and said it had to be delayed due to ‘adverse weather‘ in the UK.
They added that they were doing all they can to assist customers with their options, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Derek expressed his frustration, saying: “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.
“They claimed everywhere was 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 couldn’t afford that.”
He said yesterday: “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.
“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.
“I feel trapped and frustrated. The fog is fair enough, obviously they can’t do anything about that. But it’s 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.”
An easyJet spokesperson commented: “Due to the knock-on impact of adverse weather across the UK, flight EZY2008 from Tenerife to Manchester was delayed overnight and rescheduled.
“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.”