TUI customers suffer 44-hour flight delay
TUI has come under fire from families who had to endure a 44-hour flight delay for their half term holidays.
Flight TOM2174 to Bourgas, Bulgaria, was due to leave Manchester Airport on Monday at 6.30pm.
But passengers were told that ‘crew issues’ meant there wasn’t a pilot available to fly the plane.
The flight was then rescheduled to leave in the early hours of the following day at 12.50am.
However, passengers were then informed that technical issues meant a further delay until 2pm yesterday (Wednesday).
According to the Manchester Evening News, holidaymakers were put up in hotels in Manchester and neighbouring Trafford.
The newspaper spoke to a few families, who complained about ‘appalling’ communication from the company and ‘awful’ food at the hotels.
One mother said her children, aged six and eight, had to sleep on the floor of a hotel room.
Another family told their local newswire, Stoke on Trent Live, that while they were still stuck in the UK they’d received an automated text from TUI saying: "Welcome to Bulgaria".
A TUI spokesman said: "We would like to apologise to customers on the delayed flight TOM2174 from Manchester to Bourgas, Bulgaria.
"The flight was originally delayed due to short notice changes to our flying programme and then further impacted due to a technical issue with the aircraft. Customers have been provided with full board hotel accommodation.
"We have been in direct contact with our customers to offer a gesture of goodwill or help find another holiday.
"We understand how frustrating a flight delay can be and would like to thank them for their patience whilst we do everything we can to minimise the disruption."
The problems come just weeks after TUI was heavily criticised after customers were stranded in Mexico due to a 30-hour delay.
Holidaymakers said they were given no food or drink and were provided with little or incorrect information.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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