Local people express frustrations following flight cancellations

LOCALS have expressed their frustrations following the cancellation of a significant number of flights on Monday, raising concerns regarding a lack of communication from the airlines.

Airlines have struggled to recover this week following a four hour failure on the main air-traffic control system across the UK which seen an estimated 1200 flights to and from the UK cancelled due to an error caused by Nats, the national air-traffic provider.

Serena Hamilton from Cookstown was due to attend Newcastle Freeman Hospital on Tuesday morning for a check up following a heart transplant 15 months ago but upon arrival at Belfast International Airport she learned that her flight was cancelled with no notice or explanation.

Having missed the vital appointment at 7.30am this morning, Serena said, “It was an important appointment that would have essentially confirmed that everything was well following the transplant.

“Hopefully all is well, but it does leaving you wondering.

“I’ve been trying to contact the hospital however, since yesterday was a bank holiday many services and clinics were closed.

“I’ve been lucky enough in the sense that the transplant went well but you never know when circumstances can change when it comes to this sort of thing.”

Serena added, “The EasyJet app told us to go to the airport with no signs of the flight being cancelled.

“When the flight ended up cancelled, there was no alternative options to make it on time, also there was no access to any sort of EasyJet customer service.

“It’s a whole process now trying to get things rearranged for a future appointment and it has also had a knock on effect on the NHS.”

Elsewhere, Cookstown man Peter Martin and his wife are currently stranded in Holmfirth after their flight home from Manchester Airport was cancelled.

Peter (whose suffers from a neurological disorder) explained, “We sincerely hope we can make it home today as my wife needs to access medication.

“We had been visiting family in Holmfirth for a few days and when we arrived at the airport in Manchester we were informed the flight was delayed by an hour. We thought nothing of it, and went to grab a bite to eat in the meantime.

“Nobody was leaving and the crowds started getting bigger.

“It wasn’t until I seen a number of EasyJet staff walking through the airport that they were able to inform me that it wasn’t looking good for the rest of the day.

“I intended to find a space somewhere to sit and wait it out, but my cousin decided to come and take us back to Holmfirth where we are currently trying to get an alternative flight arranged.

“As bad as our situation was, there was a couple of doctors sitting behind us who have been stranded and are missing shifts in hospitals and surgeries which is obviously going to have a negative impact on the NHS.”

Molly Quinn from Dungannon is stranded in Tenerife she reiterated the same frustrations felt by thousands of people amidst the cancellations saying, “We waited for about an hour and a half to check in but the desks remained closed.

“The members of staff didn’t tell us anything and by this stage the line had hundreds of people in it including restless children.

“A woman working for EasyJet eventually stood on a table and shouted ‘all flights cancelled’ and that was the most information anyone received.

“The one situation that stood out to me was that a family who sat close-by with three children had no money left to book accommodation.

“As of now, we have managed to organise a flight from for Saturday, September 2, but this means I’m now missing out on another week of work.”

Rebecca Robinson from Brockagh has also been affected by the cancellations following a holiday in Salou.

She said she wouldn’t be surprised if the current delay she is experiencing ends up completely cancelled, further explaining that, “I wasn’t too worried until I found out just last night that my grandad was rushed to hospital, so I want to get home as soon as possible.”

On Monday afternoon, the National Air Traffic Services said that they had ‘identified and remedied’ the technical issue, but later warned the ensuing disruption could last further into the week.

Nats also said the failure would be investigated ‘very thoroughly’.

Following the disruptions, EasyJet shared a statement in which they acknowledged the issues saying, “We are providing customers on cancelled flights with the option to transfer their flight free of charge or receive a refund and recommend that all passengers flying with us today, regardless of their destination, check the status of their on on our Flight Tracker for real time information before travelling to the airport.

“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and while these circumstances are outside of our control, we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and to reassure customers that we are doing everything possible to minimise the impact of the disruption.”