EasyJet plane flies holidaying Brits all the way to Gran Canaria before stopping on the tarmac for hours and flying straight back
AN easyJet plane was just 300 miles from its destination of Madeira when it was forced to fly back to gloomy Manchester.
Excited passengers were looking forward to beginning their autumn break as the aircraft approached the island when the pilot told them they would no longer be landing there.
The easyJet flight, which was already delayed by two hours because no pilot initially turned up at Manchester, had been travelling to Madeira on Monday.
But as it approached Funchal Airport, the pilot announced he could not land because it was too windy.
The aircraft was then forced to circle the airport several times before a decision was taken to divert to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, about 300 miles away.
But after an hour another pilot came on board the flight and told them they would have to make the 1,880-mile return journey to Manchester.
After 12 hours on board the plane, the passengers arrived back at Manchester Airport at around 4.30am.
They said there was nobody from easyJet to initially greet them and arrange new flights.
Eventually a staff member met them but said the flight had been cancelled, with no flight back to Madeira. A hotel was offered for a night or a taxi home.
Judy Wright, of Goostrey, Cheshire, was travelling to the island for a holiday at a timeshare with a friend, said: "We still didn’t think the flight was cancelled. We thought we would come back to Madeira.
“We had been on the plane for 12 hours. We came through security and the baggage claim area, there was nobody from eastJet there.
“Eventually somebody from ground staff came and said the flight was cancelled, they said the pilot should not have said there was another flight for us.”
Judy, 63, who has since paid an extra £700 for flights with Germanwings later in the week, added: “It was so disgraceful to make people do that 12 hour journey in a plane at night. The planes are not geared up for passengers being on it for so long.
"They are treating their passengers really poorly a lot of people needed to get out to Madeira."
Another passenger, Tony Hollings, 50, from Skipton, has cancelled his first holiday in three years due to the debacle.
He said: “When we did get back there was no ground staff there. We were then told there were no other flights back to Madeira. It was just a complete shambles.
"It was dealt with badly, especially as misinformation was given to passengers.”
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A spokesman for easyJet said: “easyJet can confirm that EZY1957 from Manchester to Funchal on Monday October 2 diverted to Gran Canaria and then returned to Manchester, due to adverse weather conditions in Funchal, resulting in a cancellation of the flight.
“easyJet communicated regularly with customers via its Flight Tracker page and on arrival at Manchester easyJet provided hotel accommodation for those who required it.
“Whilst this is outside of our control we would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused as a result of the weather conditions."
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