A Tui passenger has told of a horrendous 11-hour delay after their flight to Aberdeen was diverted to Newcastle – with airline bosses reportedly forced to book more than 100 taxis to get passengers home.
It is believed at least 120 taxis were organised to drive the 240 miles to Aberdeen at a cost of up to £400 for each journey, resulting in a potential bill of £48,000.
The flight back to the Granite City from Corfu was diverted to the north-east of England after a lady onboard took unwell.
The plane had been scheduled to leave at 10.15pm on Friday but was delayed until 1am due to “technical issues”.
It was only when the plane was already airborne that the woman started having difficulties with breathing, and crews announced they needed to make a detour to Newcastle.
Tui has also blamed “operational issues” for the diversion.
Sofa beds suggested for passengers to sleep in terminal
One passenger, Chris D’Agostino, told the Press & Journal there were “at least” 120 taxis organised to drive people the 240 miles to Aberdeen.
He had been on holiday in Corfu for two weeks and was “left in limbo” when he was told the flight, which he said was “virtually packed full”, would not be taking them home.
At first, it was proposed to provide sofa beds for the passengers to sleep in the terminal, which Mr D’Agostino described as “sub-human”.
Tui then arranged taxis to drive the passengers back, with Mr D’Agostino and his partner arriving in Aberdeen at 11am on Saturday – 11 hours later than originally planned.
He said: “There was an air of uncertainty and it was just getting to a lot of people.
“Lack of sleep, wondering if they were going to get home, where they were going to be put up, the threat of these make-shift sofas in the airport, which rattled a few people, then there was this thing about the taxis.”
“It was just unbelievable,” he added.
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For Mr D’Agostino and his partner, the experience of the 11-hour delay returning to Aberdeen with Tui put a “dampener” on the whole holiday.
‘We did everything we could’
A spokeswoman for Tui explained that the flight was diverted because crews had reached their maximum working hours, not because of a medical emergency.
She said: “We can confirm that TOM1585 from Corfu to Aberdeen was diverted to Newcastle on May 20 due to operational issues, as well as a passenger onboard requiring urgent medical attention.
“Our crew offered all possible support during the flight and sought medical assistance for the passenger before everyone was safely disembarked.”
She added: “We did everything we could to get passengers home as quickly as possible, including arranging transport for all customers to return to Aberdeen.
“The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always our highest priority and we’d like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
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