Leeds Bradford bound holidaymakers stage airport protest
28.08.08
Yorkshire holidaymakers staged an airport protest after a 24 hour delay for their Leeds Bradford Airport bound flight, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports. Nearly 150 passengers occupied the VIP lounge after discovering their flight home from Dalaman had been delayed by 24 hours.
The protest was the culmination of a catalogue of problems the passengers say they had to endure including being forced to sleep outside a hotel and being left without food and water for hours.
The nightmare started in the early hours of Monday when 300 Leeds Bradford bound passengers travelled from their hotels to Dalaman Airport. They arrived at 03:20 for their 05:30 flight home, but the check-in desks did not open. About two hours later they were told the flight had been cancelled.
The passengers, who had booked with the Surrey-based Goldtrail Travel, were put onto coaches and taken to a hotel in the centre of Dalaman. But when they arrived, hotel managers had no idea they were coming and had no free beds. The passengers say that they had to sleep on the floor in the reception or outside.
At 16:00 the passengers were told by the hotel that two planes had been organised and would leave Dalaman at 16:30. The first plane was filled with passengers who were flown home. However, 144 people were left behind, expecting to catch the second plane.
Again they were told there would be a delay - this time until 18:30. At 19:40, with no sign of a plane, the passengers began their protest. The airport called the police to deal with them and passengers say that they were very aggressive and intimidating. They were eventually seen by an airport manager at 21:30 who told them a flight would be leaving at 01:00.
He asked the travellers to return to the hotel in Dalaman, but they refused. The British Embassy, instead, arranged for them to stay in the VIP lounge until the plane was ready. The promised flight, however, once again failed to materialise, and it was 05:00 before the holidaymakers finally embarked on their journey home.
When the newspaper tried to contact Goldtrail, it was twice cut off after waiting in queues for 20 minutes. On a third attempt, it was told that the entire customer service department was either on leave or on holiday. The managing director did not return their calls.
Add to: del.icio.us | Digg it | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
To book hotel leeds bradford airport or car parking leeds bradford airport at the lowest price, click on these links to two great leeds bradford airport parking and leeds bradford airport hotels price comparison pages.
