Holiday flight 15 hours long yet pair end up back at home
ACOUPLE’S holiday journey took 15 hours, covered more than 4,000 miles – and ended back where they started.
Paul Davies, 71, and his wife, Ana, 60, from Llanishen, Cardiff, were due to fly to Funchal on the Portuguese island of Madeira on Monday for a week’s holiday.
The couple left their home at 4.30am in plenty of time for their easyJet flight from Bristol Airport at 7.30am, and the plane left the runway at 7.40am, due to arrive at their destination in three hours.
Yet some 15 hours later they found themselves back in Bristol after a flight from hell.
Paul said: “When we approached the island the captain said that due to strong winds there may be a problem landing.
“We circled for a while and then he said it was not possible to land so he said we would head back to Lisbon, which is an hour and a half away, and rethink from there.
“When we got there they told us we weren’t able to get off the plane, and if we wanted to stretch our legs we had to do it in the aisles.
“After an hour and a half they said the weather conditions had improved so we were going back.
“After another hour and a half we got back to Madeira and we were circling again and again, and then the captain came on and said things had deteriorated again and there were eight aircraft who were ahead of us and unable to land.”
Paul said wind conditions on the island were forecast until Friday, which meant the plane would be unable to land, and they had no alternative but to head back.
Passengers were told they would have to stop in Porto and were asked if any of them would wish to get off there instead of heading home, to which 39 passengers agreed.
Paul said: “When we got to Porto, they told us they would have to get all the luggage off and back on again, which would take two hours.
“They gave us a food voucher to go into the airport, and once the 39 had disappeared, the rest of us set off back for home. We arrived in Bristol at 8pm and got back home around 10pm. We had been travelling for around 15 hours and got absolutely nowhere. We did a little more than 4,000. They did all they could and we have been told we should get a full reimbursement.”
An easyJet spokesman said: “Whilst the reason for the flight cancellation was outside easyJet’s control, easyJet would like to apologise and understands how disappointing it would have been for passengers.
“The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority.”