Passengers have been left furious after flights due to arrive at Bristol Airport last night (Saturday March 12) were forced to land in London. Bad weather led to the diversion of four Bristol-bound flights to Gatwick and London Standsted Airport at the last minute.
As reported by Bristol Live, Bristol Airport confirmed the flights had been diverted and said it was “normal procedure” in the event of inclement weather. They apologize for any disruption caused to passengers.
But some passengers found themselves stranded in the capital due to the late change of destination. One woman was particularly annoyed and said: ‘It was just disgusting to be lied to for hours and stranded with no information or communication.
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She was flying with Easyjet and went on to say: “We were supposed to land in Bristol at midnight but were redirected to Gatwick due to weather conditions. We were told there would be coaches and they are there for us when we get off.
“We got off the plane and had our bags told there were no coaches. Many people were stranded in London with no hotel rooms available, and some people were taking taxis for £400-500 but we managed to get two back to Bristol for £100 for both of us.
“The flight was at 8.55pm and we got back at 10.30am the next morning. It was very scary if you don’t know London, which we didn’t. No hotels were offered. No rooms available.”
She added: “We caught our coach at 3.50am having landed around 2am. There was no assistance and they couldn’t even guarantee a refund. I think Easyjet could have been more honest during this to that we can prepare for the worst. I will never go with them again.
A woman on Twitter, named Susan James, also landed in Gatwick instead of Bristol. She claimed there were no Easyjet representatives on arrival and it was “disappointing service”.
Easyjet has confirmed that three of its flights have been diverted to London Gatwick after being unable to land in Bristol. They added that customers would be reimbursed for all reasonable expenses.
An Easyjet spokesperson said: “Due to inclement weather at Bristol Airport last night, three flights from Geneva, Las Palmas and Paphos were unable to land in Bristol and had to divert to London Gatwick.
“Our team at London Gatwick did everything possible to mitigate the impact of the weather disruption, helping customers book taxis for onward travel and advising any customers who arranged their own transport that they would be reimbursed for all reasonable expenses.
“While this is beyond our control, we would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused by the weather. The safety and well-being of our customers and crew is always our top priority.”
A Bristol Airport spokesperson said: “Adverse weather conditions (crosswind) disrupted four flights on Saturday March 12 arriving at Bristol Airport. Normal procedures were followed which resulted in the diversion of flights to Gatwick and London Stansted airports.
“All other flights continued to operate as normal. We apologize for the disruption and inconvenience caused to customers.”
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Source: www.somersetlive.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-13 13:48:18