Delays cause 'chaos' for returning holidaymakers

Holidaymakers have spoken of their struggle to return home after the "chaos" caused by Friday's global IT outage.

John Gillespie, from Ashby, Leicestershire, feared he may end up missing a wedding.

He had to spend more than £1,500 on extra accommodation, taxis and flights in order to get back to the UK.

He said other holidaymakers had to sleep on the floor at the airport in Crete, Greece, while waiting for a return flight.

Many airlines were thrown into chaos on Friday after a problem caused by an update to antivirus software designed to protect Microsoft Windows devices.

Tui said it had to cancel 32 flights across 10 UK airports, including East Midlands Airport (EMA) at Castle Donington, Leicestershire.

One of the affected flights was due to be taken by Mr Gillespie and his family following a family holiday in Crete.

Speaking from the Greek island, he told the BBC: "There has been zero communication. They just left us in the dark.

"Thankfully we had accommodation, but people were sleeping on the airport floor and didn't have money to book another hotel - it's dreadful."

He was anxious about getting back home as he is due to be the joint best man at a wedding on Tuesday.

He said his family managed to secure the last seats on a Jet2 flight to Stansted Airport on Saturday evening.

The delays ended up costing £400 for an extra night in a hotel, £65 on taxis in Greece, £800 for flights and £260 on a taxi home from Stansted.

"[There has been] very little sleep for everyone, but I’ll be making the wedding," he said.

"Tui still hasn't provided us or other passengers with an update, and are still yet to confirm our original flight home."

Another family, Claire and Simon from East Leake, Nottinghamshire, had been due to return on the same Tui flight with their four-year-old son Joshua.

Claire said: "We got to the airport and didn't know what was happening. It was just complete and utter chaos.

"The ground staff brought round bottles of water but they said they hadn't got the go-ahead for a better welfare package."

Like Mr Gillespie, the couple managed to secure their own accommodation in a hotel and seats on the Jet2 flight to Stansted.

They estimate the delays and cancellations cost them more than £750.

In a statement, Tui said affected passengers would be offered alternative flights or refunds, plus discounts on future holidays.

A spokesman added: "Tui's overall service level was heavily impacted and we would like to apologise to everyone affected.

"Whilst the original IT issue was outside of our control, an essential system needed to run our airline operation remained unstable.

"We recognise that many customers were already at the airport waiting for their departure."

EMA said it put on extra staff to help with the delays and urged passengers flying this week to check ahead with their airlines.

IT experts warn the impact of the outage will continue to be felt over the coming days.

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