Sue and Murray Stewart reached Bristol Airport in plenty of time for their easyJet flight to Croatia, but a series of delays and ‘total chaos’ saw them miss their flight
A couple missed their flight after a series of delays and ‘total chaos’ at their airport.
Sue and Murray Stewart lost their long-awaited two-week holiday to Croatia after the problems at Bristol Airport. They had hoped to fly from there to Split with easyJet last week, but instead spent their break on a camper holiday in Gloucestershire.
Queues at the drop-off point, transfer bus congestion and overcrowding at the airport caused the couple to miss their flight, which was at 6.10am. Bristol Airport has since apologized, blaming the delays on terminal congestion and a problem with its baggage sorting system.
Sue, who works as an administrative assistant at a special needs school in Bristol, claimed they arrived in plenty of time but were immediately met with “total chaos”. She says: ‘We made sure we got there on time.
“When we arrived at the car park it was full of people and vehicles trying to get in. We could see the entrance to the Silver Zone and there were people queuing everywhere, something I have never experienced before. We parked our car and the key collection queue was pretty terrible, as was the queue at the surrounding building.
“We weren’t sure how long it would be. The queue for the bus was no better – there were clearly not enough buses and no one was managing the queue. Such as people having to travel to the terminal for earlier flights than before, so they have to be prioritized to get.”
After handing over their car keys, the pair, along with dozens of other passengers, waited slowly for a transfer bus to Bristol Airport. With time ticking and worried they would miss their flight, the couple made their way to the baggage check-in counter but faced further delays.
Sue told Bristol Live: “The queue to check in at easyJet was huge. At that point we thought we wouldn’t make it. We managed to run to FastTrack to an easyJet rep who was helping people.”
“We ran upstairs and because we were late, the booking pass to get to security wouldn’t let us in. The security guard was very helpful and helped us through and by then the flight was boarding. When we got through security , it said ‘gate closed’.”
“The gate number disappeared and there was no TUI rep or easyJet rep. We were left hanging around as we would have a no show on the flight and someone would come and get us. We waited for our bags to be returned to us and were told Not sure if they were on the run.”
Disappointed at missing their flight, the couple was able to get their bags back before returning to Silver Zone. They had to wait almost an hour before their vehicle was returned. After complaining to Bristol Airport, Sue said: “There were a lot of people who had probably missed their flights. What was going to happen – nothing, there was no solution.”
The couple are hoping for some compensation after losing £2,000 and Sue added: “We are hoping for some compensation but we have to wait for the travel insurance. We’ve lost £2,000. I’ve lived in Bristol and always flown from Bristol Airport, but we’ve never seen anything like it.”
She also said: “It would be nice to get something back from Bristol Airport on the complaint but nothing so far and that was Sunday.”
In response, a Bristol Airport spokeswoman apologized for any inconvenience caused by the delays. The official statement read: “We apologize for the longer than average wait times we experienced at the airport for a short period on Sunday 26 May.”
The statement goes on to explain: “Customer numbers were high ahead of the Bank Holiday outing and there was some congestion in the terminal, and this was further affected by an isolated issue with the baggage sorting system.”
“We are working with all business partners on site and looking at how we can provide additional emergency measures to prevent a recurrence of the problems customers experienced on Sunday morning.”
“We advise customers to ensure they have sufficient time to complete the relevant processes when flying from Bristol Airport this summer and arrive at the terminal at least two hours before the flight departure time, so that there is sufficient time to complete all necessary complete check-in. bag drop, security and boarding processes prior to their flight and allow for additional transfer time if you park in the Silver Zone car park.