Hundreds of holidaymakers faced hours of disruption and found themselves stranded more than 1,200 miles from their destination after their easyJet flight from Manchester to Antalya was abruptly cancelled and later diverted to Milan. The flight, originally scheduled to depart at 7.45am on Friday, August 28, was delayed due to air traffic control restrictions caused by adverse weather across Europe, according to the airline.
Passengers claim they were told to leave the runway just ten minutes before departure. One traveller said they were on the verge of boarding when they were directed back to the terminal. After a wait of over four hours, a replacement crew was sourced, and the flight eventually took off at approximately 12pm, the Manchester Evening News understands.
Mid-air diversion to Milan
While airborne, passengers were informed that the flight would need to divert to Milan because the crew had reached its duty-time limit and could no longer legally continue working. The aircraft, predominantly carrying families with young children, landed at Milan Airport, more than 1,200 miles from Antalya.
Each passenger received a €25 food voucher while awaiting a fresh crew, who were reportedly travelling from Manchester Airport to meet them at around 7.30pm local time (6.30pm GMT). EasyJet stated that the delay caused by air traffic control restrictions would have pushed the original crew beyond their legally permitted hours, resulting in a stopover in Milan to arrange a crew change.
Passenger describes ordeal
James Lanson, travelling with his wife and two-year-old daughter, spoke to the Manchester Evening News from Milan Airport, describing the experience as particularly challenging. "It's been unbelievably difficult with our toddler," he said. "She hasn't eaten, she can't understand what's going on. There's no facilities in this airport for her or any of the other kids. I used to work as a prison officer and the prison that I used to work in kept the prisoners in better condition."
Lanson recounted the moment they were turned back: "We got on the coach, drove to the airplane and pulled up next to it and the doors didn't open. The bus driver said the pilot had called in sick and that he was gonna have to take us back to the airport. So me, being a scouser, I thought it was a little bit of humour and he was gonna say he was joking and tell us to have a good holiday. But no, he drove us back to the terminal and they said they were trying to source us a new pilot."
He added: "We were due to get there at 12pm. We thought we'd get there nice and early and have a full day there today. So it's a great start to the holiday, which was meant to be seven days and is now going to be six days."
Weather claims questioned
Speaking from Milan, Lanson questioned the airline's explanation, noting that other flights had reached Antalya. "I've been looking at Flight Radar and planes have been landing in Antalya all day, so I don't know where this thing with this problem with the weather has come from," he said. "But a Jet2 flight took off just before ours was due to leave and that's landed in Antalya a couple of hours ago. And we've just seen our old crew leave five minutes ago and get on a flight home. Which is great, while we're stuck here."
He also criticised the voucher system: "They've given us a €25 voucher but the only place you can use it in this really small, tiny airport is a Pret. I think I've gone back about five or six times since we landed, so in three hours, and the queue's enormous and it's not moving. It's a sh**show. We've been told the crew that are coming to fly our plane to take us to Antalya are coming from Manchester. No one's given us any information. All they've done is given us a voucher."
His two-year-old had not eaten since 8am, with the Pret rapidly running out of food. According to the Manchester Evening News, the aircraft is set to be refuelled before continuing its journey to Antalya.
An easyJet spokesperson commented: "We are sorry for any inconvenience this will have caused and did all we could to minimise the impact of the disruption. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always easyJet's highest priority."
