A FAMILY has claimed that they were left stranded in Pakistan after being refused boarding due to a cancellation they didn’t make – leaving them to pay an eye-watering £4,000 for new flights.
Alia Safeer and her family had been visiting parents in the country for three weeks last month and had booked two flights home via airline company Oneworld – one with Qatar Airways (QA) from Islamabad, Pakistan to Doha, Qatar and one with British Airways from Doha to Manchester.
After changing their departure date for their flight home for an almost-£900 charge however, Alia was allegedly told that they could no longer board, and claims that no legitimate reason was given by staff.
This left the family stranded in a hotel in Pakistan for nearly a week, and left them £4,000 out of pocket as they were forced to book new flights.
After originally being scheduled to fly back on 10 December Alia, 37, and husband Mohammed, 42, opted to change their departure date to 16 December for £859.
After a gruelling four hours on the road on the day of their new flight, including a £250 taxi and 14 bags, the family of seven arrived at the airport.
However, upon reaching the check-in desk, they were allegedly given the devastating news that they could no longer board the BA6379 flight to Doha .
They claim to have been ignored by QA staff, who were working with BA, and were refused a reason until they began to bang repeatedly on the airline’s office doors.
It was then that they were allegedly told that Oneworld had cancelled their tickets, but that they were prohibited from seeing the email.
The distressed family pleaded for staff to let them board, saying that they had not cancelled anyone’s flight tickets and that they desperately needed to get back for work and school.
However, this was to no avail, with the family of seven allegedly left stranded at the airport with no food, water or answers.
Five days later, after exhausting all other avenues and claiming to have received little help or advice from BA, the family were forced to book new flights.
Alia said that she and her husband were forced to fork out an eye-watering £4,000 for the flights with Emirates, causing massive debt and financial hardship which they say they are still recovering from.
Despite the experience, Alia and Mohammad now claim that their complaints have gone unanswered by BA and QA, with neither taking responsibility for the error.
Speaking today, Alia said: “I, along with my husband and five children, had booked a round trip with BA directly to fly from Manchester-Doha-Islamabad and back, which cost £3,894.
“We had part e-vouchers refunded and given to us by BA due to our previous flights being cancelled in July 2022, and we used these to book the new itinerary in November, paying an extra £1,557.
“Clearly with a family of seven, it’s an expensive affair for us to afford international travel. However, we had to meet our parents in Pakistan who were unwell, and whom we haven’t seen in over seven years.
“We successfully booked our flight and managed to travel the first half of the journey from Manchester – Islamabad with no concerns on 22 November.
“We were due to return back to the UK on 10 December, but decided to stay back a few more days due to family commitments.
“We called BA multiple times and paid an extra fee of £859 to change the dates for all passengers from 10 December to 16 December.
“After a lot of calls, we received our new e-tickets for the 16th – I must add that the date change procedure was tedious to say the least.
“We did our online check-in 24 hours prior to flight departure and received boarding passes for all seven passengers with seat numbers confirmed as well.
“At the airport, the check-in counter was operated by the QA team – QA was working in partnership with BA, and the flight tickets were purchased with BA.
“At the counter the QA team said we cannot give them our luggage and that our entire family of seven ‘cannot board the flight’. This was shocking to say the least.
“We then asked what the problem was and to start off with the QA team didn’t find it necessary to have any discussion with us and very rudely asked us to ‘not disturb them’ .
“They said ‘we are busy, please stand aside’. They made sure to waste at least an hour before even looking into what we were asking, let alone offering us any help.”
Alia continued: “By now, we were in a complete state of panic and absolute chaos, not knowing whom to ask or speak to. There were no senior personnel at the airport and no BA representative either.
“By now, we were stranded at the airport in the middle of the night with no food/water and five children – the youngest being four years old, completely losing her patience and in tears.
“We then practically begged, saying ‘why would we in our right mind travel four hours by road, renting a taxi for £250 to reach the airport with five kids and 14 bags if we don’t want to fly?’
“All we were told is ‘call BA and sort yourself, this is not our problem’.
“We received no acknowledgement for denial of boarding, no alternative option offered, no clear reason for boarding denied, no money/voucher for refreshments, no money/voucher for a hotel or taxi.
“Just stranded with zero help. After over six hours at the airport, at 2am we lost all hope and, with a heavy heart, had to manage a hotel/taxi all by ourselves whilst QA comfortably carried on departing the flight on time with zero consideration of our situation.
“My husband, who is a daily wage worker, could not afford to stay back too many days in Pakistan.
“We tried calling BA numerous times for help but apart from repeatedly asking security questions and passing our calls from one agent to the other, offering their ‘sympathy’ and an unhelpful apology over the phone, we got nothing.
“We then had to borrow money from a friend and booked new tickets with Emirates to fly back on 21 December, costing us £4,000 – we were too traumatised to ever book with BA or QA again.
“What was the assurance this incident wouldn’t repeat itself, when would BA ever resolve the matter?
“They seem confused, themselves, as to what went wrong. After coming to the UK we have called BA and QA multiple times to ask why our family was subjected to such inhuman behaviour?”
A spokesperson for British Airways today said: “We’re in contact with Oneworld to understand what happened in this case.”
Qatar Airways have been contacted for comment.
