Couple flying from Birmingham to Kos on TUI had to wait 30 hours

Tour operator TUI has been blasted after hundreds of passengers were left stranded at Birmingham Airport for more than 30 hours after the runway was shut down. 

And a group disabled travellers were trapped on a plan for four hours without food or hot drinks while others were left in the airport with little more than £20 meal voucher.  

Rebecca Poulson, from Coalville, Leicestershire, were flying to Kos to celebrate her partner Daniel Stones’s birthday.

Stranded: A couple sleeping together on the floor of Birmingham Airport after a flight was delayed for 30 hours 

When they arrived at Birmingham Airport at 2.30pm on Saturday they were warned by their operator TUI that there could be a delay of about 45 minutes to their 4.30pm flight.

A flight from Norway had to make an emergency landing on the runway at Birmingham and caused significant delays as a result.

Miss Poulson said she also understood that TUI had difficulty organising a captain and cabin crew for the delayed flight. 

The company has since admitted failing to properly take care of the stranded holidaymakers during the long delay.

A flight from Norway had to make an emergency landing on the runway at Birmingham and caused significant delays as a result

A flight from Norway had to make an emergency landing on the runway at Birmingham and caused significant delays as a result

Speaking from her hotel in Kos, Miss Poulson, 27, said: ‘We’re here now but it took us nearly two days to get here.

‘I’ve worked in service all my life and I’ve never known anything like it.’

After later being told their flight would take off at 8.25pm on Saturday, the passengers, along with hundreds from two other delayed TUI flights to Rhodes and Fuerteventura, were soon having to worry about how they would sleep and eat.

Miss Poulson said: ‘There’s a Spar in the airport and the queue ran all the way through it so people were in line for ages. When I went to get food there was just one mouldy sandwich left.

‘We were having to sleep on our luggage on the airport floor and no one from TUI was giving out food vouchers or anything.

A spokesperson for the troubled airline said: 'We're extremely concerned and sorry to hear about this' 

A spokesperson for the troubled airline said: ‘We’re extremely concerned and sorry to hear about this’ 

‘People were getting angry and the TUI people even called the police just because people were filming them and taking photographs.

‘We’ve all worked really hard to be able to afford these holidays so you can’t blame us for being angry. 

‘We felt degraded.’

Eventually, at about 3am on Sunday morning Rebecca and Daniel found a TUI employee who was able to get them on another flight at East Midlands Airport – although it would not depart for another 16 hours.

She said: ‘It was getting pretty awful and the TUI rep was saying we were not even getting any compensation beyond a £20 voucher we were handed.

‘I told her I was starting to lose my rag. She asked how many of us there were and she put us in a taxi. They put us up at a hotel in Hinckley and then we were due to get a flight from East Midlands at 8.25pm on Sunday.

‘When we got to the airport that flight was delayed until 10.45pm and we finally arrived here at 6am (Kos time) on Monday.

‘I’ve emailed TUI and they’ve replied that it was all out of their hands.’

Wendy Thomas  and her disabled mother Ann Cosnett who were stuck on a TUI plane on the runway at both Birmingham and East Midlands Airports at the weekend

Wendy Thomas and her disabled mother Ann Cosnett who were stuck on a TUI plane on the runway at both Birmingham and East Midlands Airports at the weekend

A spokeswoman for TUI said the delays were ‘due to a closure at Birmingham airport and mandatory crew rest restrictions’. 

Meanwhile Wendy Thomas, of Hall Green, said her mother was one of 10 disabled people forced to spend two spells of more than two hours sitting on delayed airplanes on Saturday.

They were returning home from Benidorm when the flight had to be diverted due to the closure of the runway in Birmingham.

Ms Cosnett said they spent nearly two and a half hours in the East Midlands with nothing but water offered to them, then returned to Birmingham where they were trapped for another period of over two hours.

She said: ‘We were sat on the runway at East Midlands Airport for twoand a half hours and for all of that time we weren’t able to get hot drinks. The cabin crew were making themselves tea and coffee while we were only allowed water.

‘We had disabled people with us and someone with type two diabetes. When we landed, they could have asked the staff on the ground to bring hot drinks but nothing like that happened. We would have happily paid but they wouldn’t offer that.’

She added: ‘There was also a young baby on the plane and her mother had run out of nappies – she couldn’t change her. Everyone was very distressed.’

‘Then, when we got to Birmingham Airport, the 10 disabled passengers were stuck for another two and a half hours. The cleaners came on, there were new cabin staff, and we were stuck there. The company which was supposed to be coming to help disabled people off the plane were late.

‘The plane was supposed to go on to Kos, and that is why it never got there. It was absolutely horrendous.’

The flight departed from Benidorm at 2.15pm and didn’t leave the plane in Birmingham until 9pm.

It was one of several to be stranded as a result of the closure, which came after a hydraulics breakdown forced a flight into an emergency landing. 

Frustrated Natalie Mullins, 37, said her ‘biggest problem is the total lack of communication from TUI’. 

A spokesperson for the troubled airline said: ‘We’re extremely concerned and sorry to hear about this customer’s experience following the runway closure and resulting flight delays at Birmingham airport over the weekend.

‘While it’s standard practice to offer refreshments and our reports show that water was offered to customers by our crew, we recognise that due to the extreme circumstances we were very limited in the refreshments we were able to provide.

‘We will be thoroughly reviewing this unusual and challenging situation and looking at any opportunities where we may be able to improve processes to further assist customers should this happen again.

‘We would also like to directly contact this customer to discuss further and offer our sincere apologies.’ 



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