A BRIDESMAID got her dress two hours before the ceremony – after British Airways refused to hand over her baggage for two days.
Nicole Park, booked a BA flight from Thailand to Heathrow and onward to Glasgow for the big day.
But her flight to Scotland was cancelled and she was told they could not book her on another one for two days.
Even worse, although her dress was inside her bag at Heathrow, the airline flatly refused to hand it over so she could make alternative travel arrangements.
The teacher, originally from Glasgow, decided to go public about the fiasco in mid-July. saying the airline ignored her complaints for eight weeks.
Nicole paid £553 for the 6,000 mile journey from Bangkok to Glasgow via London Heathrow to be a bridesmaid at an old friend’s wedding in Troon, Ayrshire.
When her Glasgow connecting flight was cancelled she was told there were no seats available for two days until July 20 – the same day as the wedding.
She said: “I spoke to the BA airport staff and was told I couldn’t retrieve my luggage as it has been put into storage until my flight to Glasgow.
“I explained to the staff that the only flight option offered to me was two days away and I would need my bag in the meantime and was told there was nothing they could do that night.”
Nicole slept in the airport, in the same clothes she had travelled in.
She managed to get onto a flight to Glasgow on July 19 arriving around 11pm.
She then discovered her bag was not on that flight and the earliest it would be delivered to her in Glasgow was 4.30pm the following afternoon.
Instead, her dad took the day off work to personally collect the bag at Glasgow Airport and deliver it to his daughter with just two hours to go before the ceremony.
Nicole made the wedding, which passed off with out a hitch, but is furious at BA over her treatment, and in particular their policy of refusing access to baggage on onward flights.
She said: “I spoke to very rude staff about retrieving my bag.
“I was told repeatedly that they could not tell me more information about where my bag had gone or when it was expected to arrive.
“They also were not able to provide me with any other contact method in which I could find out where my bag was.
“The service from British Airways was diabolical and I will be expecting compensation.”
On September 14, two months after flying, Nicole finally received an email from BA which explained the cancellation of her flight but not why her baggage remained locked up.
BA blamed the cancellation on airspace at Heathrow having to be “evacuated” but said in the email she would not receive compensation due to the disruption being outwith their control.
A spokeswoman for British Airways, said: “We understood how important it was that Nicole and her dress got to Glasgow in time for the big day, so we found her space on an earlier flight to get her there as quickly as possible.
“We’ve been in touch with her to say sorry for the delay, which was caused by a fire at the Air Traffic Control tower at Heathrow. All airlines flying that day were seriously disrupted.
“We offered refreshment vouchers and have also refunded the cost of meals during the wait.”
