Holidaymakers in Cyprus have been left in limbo for two days while families waiting to depart from Belfast International have been unable to fly out to the country amid cancellations by airline TUI.
TUI Airways flight BY1412 was scheduled to fly out to Larnaca from Aldergrove on Thursday at lunchtime, but passengers received a last minute cancellation notice after many had already passed through security.
Several members of a wedding party were among those ready to jet off from Belfast, but the airline said the flight was cancelled due to ‘technical issues’. After waiting hours on updates they were then told on Friday their flight to Cyprus will depart on Saturday morning, leaving many in a nearby airport hotel until then.
Meanwhile, passengers due to travel on the inbound flight from Larnaca to Belfast International on Thursday flight also had their flight cancelled.
Young children and teenagers were among the frustrated passengers at Larnaca airport late on Thursday as families waited to hear of news of their flight home.
At one point, Cypriot police were in attendance at the airport after a standoff between irate passengers and airline staff.
Rhiannon Murphy from Lisburn said she and other passengers were moved to a hotel in Paphos on Thursday night, a 90-minute drive from Larnaca airport where they still await their flight home. She described the ordeal as ‘horrendous’.
Speaking from Cyprus, she told The Irish News: “I have a two year old with me and the bus wouldn’t even wait until I changed her nappy let alone get her something to eat.
“We got on the bus to the hotel they provided and I was told food and drink would be arranged for us to then get to the hotel and be told by a TUI rep she didn’t know why we were told that because there’s nothing there for us.
“So my child hadn’t eaten since 2pm and was told to wait for breakfast, they wouldn’t even give me a bottle of water for her. Apparently our new flight home is Saturday at 16:35 but I don’t hold much hope to be honest.”
A spokesperson for TUI apologised for the impact of the cancellations on holidaymakers and said they would all be contacted directly to be issued refunds and a ‘goodwill gesture’.
“We would like to apologise to customers on delayed flights between Belfast and Larnaca,” the spokesperson said.
“A technical issue with the aircraft of our flight partner meant that the flight wasn’t able to depart from Belfast as planned. We completely understand how frustrating it is for customers when a delay of this nature takes place.
“All customers in Larnaca are now in hotels while our teams work hard behind the scenes to get them a new flight time. Once again, we are sorry for the impact this delay has had on our customers and thank them for their ongoing patience.”
