Footage filmed at Manchester Airport shows the moment a police officer broke the news to passengers that their flight to Greece had been cancelled. Take a look:
Dozens of holidaymakers looking forward to a few days away over the May half-term were forced to change their plans when the officer announced their TUI flight would no longer be leaving for Kos as scheduled on 28 May.
Advert
Passengers had already been forced to wait for eight hours at the airport, with half the time spent waiting in lines to get through check-in and security and the rest of the time spent hanging around the terminal due to delays.
Some customers had already received texts from TUI saying their holiday would not be going ahead, though the news was confirmed by the police officer who arrived at the gate to announce the holiday 'has been cancelled', adding: "You won't be going today."
One passenger could be heard interrupting the officer to ask a question, prompting others to urge the customer to 'let [the officer] speak'.
"You're all going to be getting a full refund for the holiday you have purchased," the officer said. "There's also going to be a £320 compensation per person. You will get there within 14 days. You'll also get a £200 holiday voucher per person to go on another holiday."
Advert
The flight had been cancelled 'due to operational reasons', the officer said, though he claimed the airport wouldn't tell him what the operational reasons were.
"It's obviously been on the news, it's not just the airline, it's other airlines as well. I assume that's what it's in relation to. None of you have to claim on your insurance," he continued.
Passengers were told they would be taken back to baggage claim 'shortly' to pick up their luggage before making their way out of the airport, leading customers to ask how much longer they would be left waiting.
Footage of the chaotic scene was caught on camera by Jayesh Patel, from Manchester, who told the Manchester Evening News he and his family arrived at the airport three hours early, as advised, but still had to queue 'all along the sky bridge up to terminal one'.
Advert
Jayesh claimed the family then learned their flight had been delayed by three hours and that customers were given £5 vouchers to buy food, but the shops were 'so busy or had just [begun] to close'.
"At 7.48pm, we received a text to tell us our entire holiday had been cancelled. There was nobody at the airport to speak to, but there was a lot of upset and frustration as we all received the text at the same time," he said.
In a statement to LADbible, TUI apologised for the inconvenience caused for passengers on the planned flight and said the flight was cancelled as it felt the 'impact to customers' holiday was too great'.
Emily Brown