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Many Tui travelers were forced to stay overnight at the Barbados airport due to the cancellation of their London Gatwick-bound flight, while “premium customers” were provided with hotel accommodations.
Unfortunately, the departure of Tui flight TOM21, coming from a Caribbean island and headed to Gatwick, was delayed at 5pm local time (9pm GMT) due to an incident where a ground service vehicle collided with a cargo door on the Boeing 787 aircraft.
Mark Pantlin, a passenger, reported to The Independent, “We heard a loud noise 30 minutes before the plane was scheduled to take off. It seemed to be caused by a disabled passenger vehicle colliding with the aircraft.”
The captain informed us that the aircraft had undergone a local inspection and that UK engineers had given the go-ahead for our flight. However, after 20 minutes, we were told that they were re-evaluating the situation.
They informed us that the flight was cancelled and we would be spending the night while they arranged different flights.
Several flights departed from Barbados headed for the UK within the coming hours. These included departures from British Airways to both London Heathrow and Gatwick, as well as two Virgin Atlantic flights to Heathrow and one to Manchester. Additionally, there were Tui flights scheduled for Manchester, East Midlands, and Birmingham.
The Independent inquired with Tui about the availability of seats on these particular flights.
According to Mr. Pantlin, passengers were informed that the Barbados airport authorities would not allow anyone to disembark from the plane until arrangements were made for overnight lodging for all passengers on board.
They were eventually unloaded at 10pm, which was five hours beyond the intended departure time of the flight.
According to Mr. Pantlin, we did not see any Tui staff for a duration of 45 minutes. Afterwards, we were informed that there was insufficient hotel space on the island for everyone.
Tui’s next course of action was prioritizing hotel accommodations for families with young children, disabled individuals, and elderly individuals who were not feeling well. Following that, premium economy passengers were given priority.
The rest of the group slept on chairs without pillows or blankets throughout the night, and we still had not received any updates from Tui.
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Spending the night at Barbados airport lounge: Tui travelers were stuck there until morning.
A representative from Tui issued an apology to customers scheduled to leave Bridgetown and travel to London Gatwick on flight TOM21 on 7 March. Due to a situation beyond our control, the airplane sustained damage while getting ready for takeoff.
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“For the protection of our passengers and staff, all customers have exited the airplane and are staying in Bridgetown while safety protocols are carried out.”
“We empathize with the frustration our customers may be experiencing and offer our sincere apologies for any delays. Our team at Tui is actively reaching out to customers as soon as we have updates on their return to the UK. We are also diligently working to secure accommodation options for those who have been affected.”
Mr. Pantlin described the experience as incredibly incompetent with a complete lack of updates. He felt that Tui largely disregarded most of its customers.
In December, those traveling on an Air France flight from the Caribbean to Paris experienced technical difficulties while in Guadeloupe. As a result, passengers were separated and only those in business class were given accommodations in a hotel.
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Source: independent.co.uk
