Male voice choir left stranded by airport power cut

A MALE voice choir was stranded in Germany when an airport was forced to close due to a power outage.

Members of Ynysowen Male Voice Choir and their partners – about 50 people in total – missed work and hospital appointments after flights were suspended from Hamburg Airport over the weekend.

On Sunday, thousands of passengers saw their flights cancelled when one of Germany’s biggest airports was forced to suspend all flights due to a power shortage.

While some journeys resumed on Monday, members of the Welsh choir and their partners were left waiting until yesterday evening to return home.

The village choir was set up in the aftermath of the Aberfan disaster and is marking its 50th anniversary with the tour to Germany.

The travelling party touched down in Hamburg on Thursday and was due to travel home on Sunday.

But the airport closure meant members had to take extra time off work and even miss medical appointments.

Steve Beasley, chairman of Ynysowen Male Voice Choir, said: “We were meant to be coming back on Sunday.

“When we got to the airport there were thousands and thousands of people stuck there.

“There were armed police, fire engines and ambulances and they just kept turning up.

“Then they told us our flight had been cancelled so we had to get taxis back to the hotel.”

The group was able to find accommodation for two extra nights, but had to split into smaller groups.

“There are some in the hotel we stayed in originally, six couples in the hotel up the road and there’s 12 in the house opposite.

“My brother and myself and our wives are about 30 yards away in another house in a single room.

“There’s been a lot of frustration and a lot of pressure but everyone has a bed.”

Mr Beasley, 61, added: “If it wasn’t for friends we would still be sleeping on the airport floor.

“We’ve got members from age 30 to 90 so we couldn’t have allowed that to happen.

“We were staying with Hotel Zeppelin and they have been absolutely amazing.

“Most of our guys are retired but we have policeman and engineers that are needed back home.

“I’m self-employed so I’ve lost two days which is a lot of money.

“A couple have missed hospital appointments and one man’s wife had an operation which she missed.”

A statement on Hamburg Airport’s website attributed the power failure to a damaged copper cable.

The statement said: “A power failure on Sunday, June 3 resulted in the suspension of flight operations at Hamburg Airport from 10am until closing time.

“The power failure was caused by damaged insulation of a copper cable. This damage resulted in a powerful short circuit which also affected numerous adjacent cables.

“The short circuit occurred in the airport’s block-type thermal power station supply line.”