AN EASYJET customer was left fuming after her flight was cancelled and the airline couldn’t find a hotel for the night – leaving her daughter sleeping on the airport floor for hours.
Samantha Genge and her daughter Georgia arrived at Kos International Airport last Monday evening to be told their 1.45am flight back home to London Gatwick the following morning was delayed.
After several hours of waiting around, the teacher from Littlehampton, West Sussex, was informed that the flight was now cancelled due to a lack of cabin crew.
The 41-year-old claims the airline was then unable to find accommodation for all passengers so many had to make their own arrangements.
Samantha was unable to find anywhere available so was forced to sleep on the cold airport floor alongside her 14-year-old daughter.
She was allegedly told by airport staff that as easyJet had initially offered accommodation they would not be able to provide food or drinks vouchers.
After finally managing to check in on Tuesday evening, the mum-of-one said she was eventually given a 15 euro voucher for herself and another for her daughter.
Their flight home eventually took off at 11.30pm on Tuesday – 24 hours after arriving at the airport to check in.
Speaking today, Samantha said: “We were transported from the hotel to the airport and our flight was due to take off at 1:50am but was delayed then cancelled.
“There were no representatives from easyJet at all for us to speak to.
“We were quite literally abandoned, there were couples with young children and elderly people.
“A lady we talked to had had a hip replacement 13 weeks before and was forced to sleep on an airport floor.
“It was just disgusting, the reason the flight was cancelled was because they didn’t have a crew – that is what the pilot told us when he finally flew us home.
“It put a real downer on what was a lovely week with my daughter.”
The text message from easyJet informing customers to seek their own accommodation after the cancellation read: “We’re really sorry but unfortunately, we’re unable to find hotel rooms in the area.
“If you need a hotel room and are able to make your own arrangements, please keep all receipts and we’ll refund the cost of a reasonably priced room, meals and travel costs.
“Once again, we’re very sorry for the disruption to your travel plans.”
A spokesman for easyJet today said: “We are sorry that Ms Bridle’s flight from Kos to London Gatwick on 2nd August was delayed overnight, due to a ground handling delay at the airport on the previous flight which led to the crew reaching their safety regulated operating hours.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and we did all possible to minimise the impact of the delay, arranging hotel accommodation and meals for customers where possible and advised any customers like Ms Bridle who were required to arrange their own that they would be reimbursed.
“We are in touch with Ms Bridle to apologise for the experience, reimburse any expenses she has incurred and provide her with the compensation she is due.”
Easyjet and many other airlines have faced several issues this summer as holidaymakers returned to travel after the Covid pandemic.
Customers have faced long queues to check in and faced further delays when trying to depart on their holidays or return.
Last month a mum was left fuming after her daughter was left stranded at an airport in Greece when easyJet cancelled their flight and were unable to find her accommodation.
Sarah Mallandain ended up having to fork out an extra £670 to put her 20-year-old daughter Chloe on a British Airways flight back to London after she spent hours sleeping in the airport.
