We were booted out of the airport at 1am and left to fend for ourselves.
James is an NCTJ-trained senior reporter covering live and breaking news and incidents across Greater Manchester every evening. James joined the M.E.N in 2021 having previously worked as a news reporter in Lancashire. James’ particular interests also include crime reporting and human interest features.
Customers in a long taxi queue after being dumped out of the airport(Image: Manchester Evening News)
After a week sunning myself and exploring in the Costa Del Sol last week, I was ready to head home. After dropping off my bags and showing my passport and boarding card, I was all set to catch the flight back.
But just as we were due to board last Saturday (September 13), the flight was suddenly cancelled at the last minute. Then we were booted out of the airport onto the street with virtually no help or support whatsoever.
I was among a crowd of disgruntled and tired customers who were due to fly back with easyJet from Malaga to Liverpool John Lennon airport. The flight was due to take off at 11.25pm, meaning we had the opportunity to make the most of our last day in blazing sun and 30C temperatures.
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Following a few very boring hours in the airport (the duty free and every other shop had closed their shutters), it was almost midnight by the time we then received the shattering news that we wouldn’t be snuggling back in our own beds that evening.
We knew something was wrong when we still hadn’t boarded the flight 20 minutes after the scheduled take off time. Instead, we had been left to stand around in what could only be described as a green house – the boiling hot tunnel walkway to the aircraft from the gate – with no information about what was going on.
There was a heavily pregnant woman, alone with her son, who had to sit on the floor. Another elderly couple beside us commented that they were too hot.
It was then that we heard screaming and shouting coming from the plane, before three clearly intoxicated people – two women and a man – were marched off the aircraft by local armed police officers.
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
After that, we presumed there would be a quick turnaround on cleaning the plane and that we’d be on our way home. How wrong I was.
We were shortly after informed the flight was cancelled and walked back up to the main gate where the pilot came to directly address passengers – a baffled crowd of couples, friends, single parents and the elderly.
The pilot softly informed us that he made the decision to cancel the flight home that evening due to an incident that had occurred involving a disruptive passenger. He said his on-board crew ‘did not feel safe’ in operating the flight, leaving him with no option but to pull the plug.
At the time, my partner and I felt pretty relaxed about the whole thing. We felt secure in knowing that it was easyJet’s responsibility to look after us, offer support, and fundamentally get us home.
We also understood the reason for the cancellation, and instantly felt empathetic to the on-board staff who had clearly been forced to deal with an incredibly stressful event mid-flight. These things happen, and it really didn’t feel like the end of the world as we had no major commitments to get home for.
The pilot informed us we would be ‘looked after’ by ground staff in Malaga, which, although met with sighs, grunts and a few angry comments from passengers, felt reassuring.
But moments after he made his way back to the plane, a woman on the tannoy told us there was no way they could help us, and that we had to source a new flight and accommodation ourselves using the online easyJet app or website portal for cancellations.
This is where the problems began. I can only liken the experience to the stress of desperately trying to nab tickets for a huge concert. You are working against the clock. Everyone is directed to a page that brings up the next flights with available seats – but they vanished rapidly as people rushed to select them.
The moment the pilot told us the flight was cancelled(Image: Manchester Evening News)
A few flights the following day quickly disappeared. The website kept repeatedly crashing and freezing. And we weren’t the only ones grappling with the same issues.
Using two phones and a laptop, we luckily managed to secure two of the last few remaining seats on a flight to Leeds the next day – some 70 miles away from our planned destination. Others claimed they were only left with options for the Monday, Tuesday or even Wednesday in some cases. One girl, whose car was in Liverpool, told us she could only get seats on a flight to London.
I looked around at older couples attempting to navigate the system on their smartphones with difficulty and could only imagine how worried my own grandparents would’ve been in that situation – with no other offer of assistance. One visibly stressed single mum with her daughter asked us for help. I imagine some people may have had work commitments or important health appointments back in the UK.
Then we were directed to the page to book a complimentary hotel room. The website repeatedly froze again, and then timed us out, with no way to go back. We had the journey confirmed, but it was after midnight by this point, and nowhere to lay our heads. We were unable to book anything or compare prices online as it was technically the early hours of the following day, meaning available rooms were only showing for the next night.
What would’ve alleviated the stress would’ve been having a team of on-hand easyJet representatives there to reassure us and help people find somewhere to stay, but instead we were met with a wall of complete ignorance. Everyone was left to fend for themselves, in the early hours of the morning, thousands of miles from home.
That was when we were then informed that the airport was closing and that we all had to vacate the premises. EasyJet staff, who had simply told us to ‘book a room and claim it back’ were met with anger from a sea of offended customers, some shouting expletives, as we were effectively booted out and told to collect our bags. There was a sense of utter disbelief.
What followed for my partner and I was an hour of repeatedly ringing what felt like every hotel in the land. It was 1am by this point, and we desperately wanted to find somewhere to stay and freshen up for fear of spending the next 13 hours lumbered with our bags outside the airport. The stress was starting to feel overwhelming. Some automated phone messages were in Spanish.
One woman explained how she couldn’t get a flight back until Wednesday. A different family stood near to us gleefully informed us they had been able to secure three rooms at a nearby Melia group hotel, in Torremolinos through the easyJet website.
We then attempted to ring a different Melia hotel nearby, a four-star resort, figuring it was the most responsible option, and were informed they had one room available at the price of 196 euros. We were stuck in a long 30-minute queue for a taxi, which rapidly grew longer and longer due to the number of displaced customers.
Taking a chance on the room, we felt relieved we had somewhere to sleep. We just went for it. But I am not naïve to how fortunate we were to be able to afford that in the spur of the moment. Many families or travellers wouldn’t have the available spends to fork out another £190 on a room following an expensive holiday abroad.
Upon arrival, and paying over 27 euros for a taxi out of our own pocket, we were greeted with a room that could only be described as a glorified cupboard. There was no working air-conditioning, a dodgy and broken fridge had been dumped on the floor, there were few amenities. We quickly realised that particular room isn’t actually available to book online.
It was by no means four-star luxury, like the booking may suggest, and probably worse than a room in a budget hotel near the airport (which equally all had no availability). We did manage to get a 40 euro refund, and spent all of a few hours there, paying a total of 156 euros for the privilege.
Our room, costing 156 euros
Such was the sigh of relief when, the following day, we were able to board a flight to Leeds and get in the air. It may have been a diversion, and meant we needed to rely on a good friend to pick us up, but at least we were on the home stretch.
Flights get cancelled. That’s understandable. But there was one clear takeaway from all of this. Human beings who are approachable, offering support and empathy for hundreds of customers stuck in limbo in the early hours of the morning would’ve made the world of difference.
The actions of, to put it plainly, three utter idiots, caused massive upheaval and stress at the end of everyone’s holidays.
A clear plan and understanding of how to assist with booking new flights home and sourcing hotels would mean we, as paying customers, would’ve felt valued and like we mattered. The reality, sadly, was quite the opposite.
I am grateful that easyJet got us home promptly, but others weren’t quite so lucky.
After returning home my partner and I submitted a complaint, along with a claim for the hotel booking, taxi expenses and food. The airline has issued an apology, said the incident involving Malaga ground staff is being investigated, and told me that although we are not entitled to compensation due to the nature of the incident, my complaint and claim is being looked into and processed. Watch this space.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “Flight EZY3382 from Malaga to Liverpool was unable to operate due to a disruptive passenger incident on the inbound flight, which led to the crew being unable to operate the return flight.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and our crew have a responsibility in line with safety regulations to declare if they do not feel fit to operate.
“While this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience this will have caused and worked to minimise the impact of the disruption, providing options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals, and will reimburse any customers who booked their own.
“We always want to ensure our customers feel supported and so we are looking into these customers’ experience at the airport with our ground handling provider at Malaga.”