EasyJet flight chaos 'double whammy' for Derbyshire family

A father who is stuck in Portugal with his family after their flight was cancelled has described the situation as a "double whammy".

Rob Salmon, from Church Broughton, Derbyshire, was left stranded when his EasyJet flight was cancelled on Sunday.

The tennis coach said not only had he been forced to pay to extend the family's stay but will also lose income after missing work.

EasyJet apologised for disruption caused by the cancellations.

Mr Salmon said his family were only told they would not be returning home after checking in and passing through security at the end of their holiday to Faro in Portugal on Sunday.

They managed to book back into their hotel and bought seats on another flight leaving on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Salmon told BBC Radio Derby: "EasyJet initially put us on a flight back to Bristol during the early hours of Thursday morning, but our car is in Manchester so that wouldn't have been any good.

"We're kind of going off good faith that EasyJet will repay this money that we're now spending.

"We're spending lots of money to stay over here and we're not earning because we're not at home working - so it's a double whammy really."

Mr Salmon said the family was fortunate to be able to pay for their extended stay but added others may not be able to cope with the cancellations.

He predicts many people may be tempted to holiday at home if the issues are not resolved.

"Our country is great," he said.

"I'm almost thinking that, come the summer, holidaying at home might make sense if this isn't sorted out because it's chaos."

EasyJet is one of a number of airlines that have cancelled flights amid widespread travel disruption.

The travel giant said it had extended its customer service opening hours from 07:00 to 23:00 and was helping those affected to find hotel accommodation.

A spokesperson for the firm said: "We're very sorry and fully understand the disruption this would have caused for our customers."

This story is based on Rob Salmon's interview with Andy Twigge on BBC Radio Derby. The full interview is available on BBC Sounds.

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