Dozens of passengers were left stunned after a Jet2 flight to Alicante departed without them while they were waiting in a stairwell at Manchester Airport.
The Alicante-bound flight took off on Monday morning (January 19), leaving at least 35 holidaymakers stranded after what the airline later described as an “error.” Passengers had already presented their passports and had their boarding passes scanned, yet were left waiting in a stairwell for up to 40 minutes with no explanation.
The group believed they were waiting either for doors to open leading directly to the aircraft or for a bus to transport them to the plane. Instead, the aircraft departed without them.
Jet2 has since apologised, stating that it is treating the incident as a “matter of urgency,” and confirmed that passengers were informed there had been an error relating to the stairwell directions.
Matt, from Denton, who was due to fly on the 7am LS879 service to Alicante with his son, said Jet2 staff told him such an incident had “never happened before,” according to the Manchester Evening News.
He explained that they arrived at the airport on time, passed through security without issue and reached the gate well before boarding began. After the front rows were called, his row number was announced.
“So we all came through the terminal,” Matt said. “Everyone from rows 26 to 40 went first, then they called the rest of us. We went through the gate and boarded.
“But instead of continuing onto the plane, there were stairs. The herd mentality kicked in and we all went down them. There were a lot of us.
“Then we started wondering why the doors weren’t opening. We assumed a bus would arrive to take us to the aircraft.
“We waited for 10 minutes, then 20, then 30, thinking, ‘What’s going on?’ We were literally stuck like caged animals.”
Matt said an airport worker eventually approached from the tarmac and asked what was happening, before allegedly informing the group that “the plane’s gone.”
He claimed he was told that crew members do not carry out headcounts once boarding begins.
“I’m gobsmacked that they don’t do a headcount,” he said. “That plane was at least 36 people short. You’d think the captain would ask whether the flight was full.”
Passengers were later given £10 vouchers while waiting for details of their replacement flights. Matt added that many elderly travellers were among those affected.
“There are lots of elderly people here,” he said. “My son suffers from anxiety, and I brought him away for a break. It’s like something out of Fawlty Towers — you’ve never seen anything like it.
“They’re now saying there should have been a red rope diverting people onto the plane, but there wasn’t. So everyone just went down the stairs. It’s completely unfathomable.”
In a statement, a Jet2 spokesperson said: “We are aware that flight LS879 from Manchester to Alicante departed without some customers this morning, and we are investigating this as a matter of urgency with the airport.
“Our team are looking after these customers, and we have already arranged for them to travel on other flights to Alicante today.
“We would of course like to apologise to these customers.”
