Two Aberdeen grandparents were stuck in Dalaman airport for around 18 hours after their flight home was delayed.
Alan and Kathleen Macdonald, 72 and 75 respectively, arrived at the Turkish airport at around 11pm on Monday ready for their flight at 1.15am.
After checking in their bags and heading to the gate, they and others around them reportedly received an e-mail from Tui to say their flight would be delayed by 24 hours.
Passengers couldn’t find any representatives from the airline, but said airport staff assured them they would be put up in a hotel and given their baggage back in the meantime.
Instead, they claim they were escorted away from the gate by security, left to sleep on the airport floor and given nothing but a bottle of water and slice of pizza.
‘People are scattered all over the airport’
The Macdonalds’ granddaughter said the situation was “not right” and that she had worried about the couple as they both have cancer and other health complications.
“It’s awful, they both have really bad health conditions, my grandad was only diagnosed with cancer the day before he went and now they’re stuck,” she said.
“People are scattered all over the airport and they don’t know how or when they’re getting home.”
Dalaman airport’s website says the flight left for Aberdeen just before 6pm on Tuesday, Turkish time, around 18 hours after the couple arrived at the airport.
However, Mr and Mrs Macdonald’s family was left guessing as they were not informed of any updates throughout the day.
Just last month, passengers on a Tui flight from Aberdeen to Dalaman were delayed by 32 hours due to an “operational fault”.
Family concerned
The family grew increasingly stressed because the couple’s phones were running out of charge, meaning they couldn’t stay in touch.
Mr and Mrs Macdonald also said the airport was warm and that the last e-mail they received from Tui was to inform them that there would be no hot food served on the flight when it did leave.
Their granddaughter said: “Their phones are now running out of charge, we don’t know what’s happening.
“If you’re travelling home to Aberdeen at 3am you’re not dressed for summer weather in Turkey.”
The family claims Tui have not responded to calls or messages on social media.
Tui response
A Tui spokeswoman said: “We’d like to apologise to customers travelling on flight TOM815 from Dalaman to Aberdeen on Monday, July 18 which was unfortunately delayed due to operational issues.
“Our teams have given customers meals and refreshments at the airport and we’ve sent three messages to customers to provide information and their new departure time. The flight has now departed and is due to arrive in Aberdeen this afternoon.
“We’re sorry for the impact of this delay and would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding.”
Passengers will be entitled to claim EU261 compensation.
Conversation