Police officers at Alicante-Elche airport after flight staff threatened
Quote: ‘Apparently stag do group had taken their own alcohol on the plane – and some were smoking and vaping’
Quote: ‘The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is priority. We take incidents of disruptive behaviour very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard’
By Andrew Atkinson
A family was left stranded in Spain for five days – after easyJet cancelled their flight home – due to disruptive stag do passengers.
Sandra Niemcyzk and husband Victor, both 57, and daughter Lucy, 27, were stuck in Alicante-Elche airport along with approximately 300 other passengers.
The drama unfolded after an incident on the incoming jet – that was due to take them home to the UK – grounded the plane. Along with her brother, sister-in-law, nephew and her nephew’s girlfriend, the family were told they couldn’t fly home until April 18th.
The family were due to board the 9.20pm flight to Manchester on Thursday April 13, before police met the jet at Alicante-Elche airport as it came in to land.
The Niemcyzks stayed with family, while others slept on the airport floor, unable to book accommodation.
Sandra said: “Initially the flight kept saying delayed. There were lots of people queuing to board – but then it was cancelled.
“Due to the issues on the way out, we were told staff needed a 10-hour break and that we could come back in the morning.
“But then they cancelled the flight altogether. In the end they just flew the plane back to Manchester – empty.
“We were told to go back through passport control to the easyJet desk and we would get another flight and a hotel.
“But we discovered they would only put you up – if you had booked a package holiday with them.
“We were told we’d have to sort out accommodation ourselves. When I spoke to the easyJet representative she just shrugged her shoulders when I asked what she was going to do to help.”
Sandra and her family were able to stay with her brother. She reportedly said some passengers were left in tears – because they couldn’t get home to jobs and their loved ones.
“There was a family with a baby and a three-year-old and the mum had run out of milk. It was utter chaos.
“We tried to get another flight straight away – but they had all gone. We’re stuck here for five days.
“I’ve missed my son’s birthday and my daughter was supposed to be starting a new job – so she had to ring them. We were left with little option.
“If we didn’t go with easyJet we’d have had to go, via Amsterdam or London, which would have made it a lot longer flight.
“This would have been at our own cost and we would have had to put in a claim. easyJet basically just abandoned everyone,” she added.
Sandra paid for taxis and food that she hadn’t budgeted for, and wasted £152 on tickets for a musical that she wasn’t able to see, because of the delays. She refuses to accept easyJet’s explanation that the ‘circumstances were beyond their control’.
Sandra added: “easyJet has brought this on themselves as they allow stag dos on – when they’re already drunk – and even sell alcohol on board. “Apparently this group had taken their own alcohol on the plane and some were smoking and vaping.
“Nine police officers met them at Alicante-Elche airport after staff were threatened. easyJet are trying to get out of it by saying it’s exceptional circumstances – but it’s of their own making.
“The seats are sold cheap and then they allow these drunken groups to fly on Thursdays and Fridays. It’s no wonder they become riotous.
“They will just say it’s out of their control, but easyJet have created a rod for their own backs. We are just really unhappy with how easyJet have handled it.”
easyJet insist that the cancellation was out of their control, but said all additional costs will be reimbursed. It maintains that all travellers were offered options for alternative flights, refunds and hotel accommodation.
A spokesperson said: “easyJet can confirm that flight EZY2015 from Manchester to Alicante on 13 April was met by police on arrival, due to a group of passengers behaving disruptively onboard and as a result the return flight to Manchester was unable to operate.
“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet’s priority.
“We take incidents of disruptive behaviour very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard and our cabin crew are trained to assess all situations and to act quickly and appropriately, to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time. “While this was outside of our control, we are very sorry for the inconvenience this will have caused those, due to travel on the return flight to Manchester.
“We provided customers with the option of a transfer to an alternative flight free of charge, or a refund, as well as hotel accommodation and meals for those customers who required them.
“Should customers have sourced their own flights, including with alternative airlines, accommodation and meals, or incurred other expenses, we will reimburse them.”
