Nightmare of holiday flight for families

8:03am Thursday 28th August 2008

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Holidaymakers were left stranded at a sunshine island airport after their return flight was forced to return to Cyprus due to technical troubles.

The 160 plus passengers, including families from Keighley, claim they were told to make their own way home or wait two weeks for the next flight home.

Yesterday budget airline easyJet apologised and said it would investigate its ground handling agents at Paphos International Airport, Cyprus.

The drama began last Wednesday when easyJet flight EZY 1974 from Paphos to Manchester turned round after the plane suffered violent shaking. After about an hour back in the departure lounge passengers started to become angry with no information being given to them and claim they were ordered to leave the airport or police would be called. They say easyJet's handlers said the next flight available would be September 3.

Back home two families told the Keighley News of their nightmare trips - with one group spending £2,000 on a gruelling three day journey back to their home in Keighley.

The problem was that although easyJet did try to arrange a rescue flight, staff in Cyprus apparently did not tell the stranded passengers. As a result many used mobile phones on the Internet to arrange alternative travel.

But Linda and David Tomlinson-Askham and their children, Laura Lynch, 13, and Christopher Lynch, 15, from Oakworth Road, set off on a three day journey back to the UK Linda said: "There were two people in wheelchairs and babies on the flight. There was no rep or easyJet desk to get help from. An airport staff member told us we had to leave the airport or he would call the police. He said we had to make our own way home to England." The family travelled to Larnaca airport, at the other end of Cyprus and eight hours later boarded a flight to Prague.

They then flew to Heathrow, travelled by taxi across London and slept at their uncle's house.

They spent the next night on the floor of a second uncle in Luton before arriving back home on Saturday.

Schoolgirl Laura said: "We could not get a hire car to drive home because we did not have two utility bills for identification.

"The whole thing was an awful experience."

The family's friends - Rachael Pearson, of Fell Crescent, Keighley, her daughter Leah, 13, partner Michael Anderson and his daughter, Kellie, 15 - stayed in Paphos and tried to get action from easyJet.

Following many complaints easyJet agreed to put them in a hotel - then gave them less than two hours to return to the airport for the return flight.

Rachael said the experience had been "absolutely horrific" and could have been avoided if easyJet had kept them fully informed. She said: "We didn't know they were going to fly us back. In England easyJet wouldn't tell us anything.

An easyJet spokeswoman apologised if passengers felt they had not received the level of care they should expect. She said: "We will investigate with our ground handling agents in Paphos. "We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused however the safety of our passengers and crew is our No. 1 priority."

"Passengers were offered hotel accommodation and were offered a refund or a transfer on to the next available flight. If passengers chose to travel with an alternative carrier then we will refund them on submission of receipts."