The “abandoned” flight left hundreds of British tourists locked up for several hours on the plane

Flight “abandoned” due to airport staffing crisis

TUI flight TOM 2106 was scheduled to depart at 5:50pm on May 30, but passengers could only board at 7pm. They later learned that because ground staff took too long to load luggage, the flight was canceled, leaving the plane “abandoned” on the runway for 3 hours.

The incident where the police were called for help to free hundreds of passengers trapped on an “abandoned” plane on the runway (left and center photo); The same incident of mother and daughter passengers had to wait for 22 hours at the airport (right photo). (Photo: DM)

Hundreds of passengers were frustrated because they were stuck on the plane in the hot weather, until a pilot was forced to call for police to help rescue the passengers at 19 pm. Someone lamented: “Swissport has abandoned us!” (Swissport is a supplier of airport ground services and related services, to airlines in Europe and abroad.)

Hundreds of passengers were stranded on TUI flight TOM 2106 “abandoned” on the runway for three hours, at Manchester Airport on May 30. (Photo: MEN Media)

A TUI spokesperson later apologized to the passengers of TOM flight 2106, confirming that “operational issues” had caused the flight to be delayed. TUI has provided passengers with food, overnight accommodation at the hotel and scheduled a new departure for May 31.

The scene of tourists queuing up at Manchester Airport on the morning of June 1. (Photo: LNP)

The rare incident comes as staff shortages that have led to a staffing “crisis” enveloping UK airports have worsened. Most recently on May 31, EasyJet canceled 42 flights at Gatwick airport, British Airways also canceled a number of departure flights, while TUI said it would cancel 6 flights a day from Manchester airport throughout June…

Passengers slept overnight at Stansted Airport due to too many flight delays/cancellations over the weekend. (Photo: @nc)

On June 1, British holidaymakers faced further travel turmoil. Thousands of families have had their travel plans disrupted due to an increase in TUI flight cancellations, even though they have been queuing since 4am at Bristol and Manchester airports.

Since airlines are now asking passengers to arrive at the airport earlier than their flight, long queues and chaos are seen as “nightmare” occurrences at airports all the time. long past.

Mother and daughter tourists have to wait flight 22 hours at the airport

Just before that, there was another disturbing incident. On the morning of May 27, female tourist Charlie Day, 33 years old from Chelmsford, Essex, and her 5-year-old son arrived at Gatwick airport before a flight scheduled to depart at 2:30 pm to Barcelona, ​​Spain. But when queuing to board the plane, the mother and daughter knew they had to wait for the next flight, because this flight was overbooked to 34 seats.

The mother and daughter of tourist Charlie Day had to wait 22 hours at Gatwick airport to fly to Spain. (Photo: Jam Press/Charlie Day)

The mother and daughter of tourist Charlie Day and dozens of other passengers also crashed and had to check in again for the next flight, scheduled to take off at 9:45 pm. But until 1:30 am on May 28, they only received an email informing the flight was cancelled. The flight was then rescheduled to 9am on May 28, with the boarding gate being notified of the change just 13 minutes before departure.

Finally, after 22 hours of waiting, the mother and daughter, Charlie Day, were able to board the plane. But then the plane suffered another 45-minute delay on the runway, before taking off for Spain.

Travelers returning from holidays on the morning of June 1, complain of delays and long waits to collect their luggage at Manchester Airport. (Photo: LT1 Media)

The holiday plans of many British tourists for Jubilee celebrations (special celebrations of the British Royal Family) have been thrown into disarray after a week of terrible flight cancellations. The reason is that the “crisis” of personnel continues to cause chaos in the UK’s Travel Hubs (“travel hubs” – airports, train stations, bus stations). Meanwhile, experts still warn that the “nightmare” of disruption at airports can last for a whole year!