British passenger flies to Las Vegas by mistake
A British banker claims he accidentally boarded a flight to Las Vegas when he was trying to fly home to Stansted from Cologne.
Samuel Janowsky said he fell asleep after boarding the flight, which he thought was heading to London.
When he woke, he realised from the inflight tracker that his flight had passed the UK, said The Times.
He didn’t realise the plane was US-bound until he asked another passenger where they were heading.
The 29-year-old, who had been attending meetings in Cologne, is questioning how the mix-up happened since airport staff had checked his boarding pass three times.
He told The Times the error cost him €878 for food, hotel and a flight home.
A spokesman for Eurowings said: "The passenger had passed through passenger control and the identification documents had been properly checked by the federal police.
"Due to an error by a service provider’s employee, the passenger managed to board the long-haul flight. According to authorities and Eurowings, at no time was there any safety risk."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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