Lapland specialist apologises to families after Santa trip is aborted on landing
Lapland specialist Canterbury Travel has apologised to scores of families after they travelled all the way to Finland to see Santa, only to be told that the flight was unable to land at their destination.
Instead, the flight diverted to north Norway to refuel and, after spending several hours on the ground – during which the families were kept onboard – it returned to Edinburgh.
Jacqui Banham, managing director of Canterbury Travel, said: "We are desperately sorry for the passengers caught up in yesterday’s failed day tour to Lapland.
"We chartered an aircraft with Titan Airways and for reasons not yet fully understood, the flight was delayed leaving Edinburgh in the morning and on its approach to Enontekio, snow and ice on the runway led to a divert to Norway to refuel."
The runway at Enontekio later reopened and other flights were able to land, but Banham said the Titan Airways’ flight was unable to return due to safety fears and concern that the crew would run out of flying time, so it returned to Edinburgh instead.
"Canterbury Travel have worked subsequently to try to secure an aircraft for an alternative date. This however, has not been possible due to the short notice and availability of aircraft at such a busy time, immediately before Christmas," she said.
"We are contacting all customers or their travel agents to arrange a full refund. Again, we offer our most heartfelt apologies to all families affected."
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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