TUI passengers wait 10 hours for delayed flight only to be told it’s cancelled

A Welsh holidaymaker and her friends were left nearly £5,000 out of pocket after a TUI trip turned into a 10-hour wait and a cancelled flight. Tammy Sloman from Hengoed in Caerphilly county had planned a trip to Gran Canaria with three friends to celebrate their 30th birthdays.

The group booked their holiday through TUI, expecting a memorable experience on the Spanish island. However, they claim their holiday was marred by “disorganisation” and “no communication”. TUI has since apologised to customers affected by last week’s global IT outage which led to delays and cancellations.

Tammy, who is currently studying nursing, was scheduled to fly from Cardiff Airport to Gran Canaria on Saturday afternoon, July 20. Speaking to Wales Online she shared her frustration with the delays they endured. 

After seeng the news about the IT outage Tammy said: ” We were riddled with anxiety as soon as we got up.”

Despite their worries, Tammy and her mates pressed on with their plans, determined “not to waste the rest of the day”. They drove to the Highwayman Inn near Cardiff Airport around 2pm to leave their car in the designated parking area for airport travellers, before catching a shuttle to the airport later.

Upon reaching the airport, Tammy’s group breezed through check-in and security “with no issue” by about 5.30pm. “At this point we had no indication that our flight would be cancelled,” she explained. “We were under the assumption that we were going at 8.30pm, there was a flight coming in and that we could go on it.”

However, Tammy revealed that around 7pm an announcement was made at the airport informing passengers that the plane heading to Gran Canaria had now been rescheduled to 11.30pm that evening. Tammy explained that she, her friends and other passengers for the flight were given £10 vouchers while they waited at the airport. But shortly afterwards, they were informed that their flight had been cancelled.

Tammy stated:”Everything was up in the air and people were getting a bit abrupt with security, others were trying to find out more on what was going on and why we were finding out now. We had been waiting for 10 hours, we were told that we were getting on a flight that was coming over here and now our flight wasn’t coming at all.”

She recounted the chaos, saying: “The TUI reps at the airport didn’t have a clue, they were not informed at all. There was a poor woman from TUI on her own trying to deal with so many people – a few of them were quite abrupt. Everyone was hungry, tired or exhausted.

“I’m a bit of a control freak, so this was just stressing me right out. I was so disappointed by the fact that this was our third holiday with them now where it had been cancelled. I was supposed to go to Mexico during Covid times and it was cancelled twice. I was really disappointed and angry.

“We didn’t know where to go or what to do. My friend, who was the one who brought the car, had had a drink and couldn’t drive. We weren’t drunk, but obviously we weren’t going to risk it. And on top of that, the Highwayman Inn was closed until 3am when the next flights were coming and when people would need transfers. We felt stranded and were stuck at the airport until 3am at least.”

Tammy and her friends were told in the early hours of Sunday morning that hotel rooms would be provided for them.However, due to all nearby hotels being fully booked, passengers were informed they would be relocated to hotels in Bristol – nearly an hour’s drive from the airport. “We were livid,” expressed Tammy.

“At 3am, we were basically camping out at the airport. No seat to sit on, sat on the cold floor, no information, no information on the boards, the security didn’t know what was happening, the TUI rep had to go home as the shift was finished – she had no-one to communicate with, so no-one knew what was going on.”

Tammy revealed that she received another email from TUI early on Sunday morning with further updates. The email, as seen by WalesOnline, stated that due to “significant disruption” the holiday provider had made the “difficult decision to delay [the] flight”.

It added that they advised “passengers to stay at home until a new departure time for [their] flight can be confirmed”.

Tammy sought more information, but claimed that neither of the TUI representatives at the airport nor fellow passengers she spoke to were aware of this email and its details. “All in all, the whole experience consisted of disorganisation, no communication – it was a very poor experience. I won’t book with TUI again,” she concluded.

In the early hours of Sunday, Tammy and her companions made their way back to Hengoed, with Tammy confessing, “I couldn’t sleep,” due to the stress of awaiting updates. “Because they told us to keep an eye out on any emails or notifications. I hadn’t slept since the night before last. I was exhausted.”

By 8am, Tammy received a disheartening email from TUI, as reported by WalesOnline, stating: “Following our earlier updates, as a result of worldwide IT system outage and subsequent air traffic control restrictions, we are sorry to inform you we have made the difficult decision to cancel your holiday”.

TUI has since presented the group with options to modify their booking, but the ordeal has left Tammy feeling utterly frustrated. The group, undeterred, opted to spend their scheduled time off in Cyprus, securing flights with a different airline.

Tammy shared her disappointment: “With work and university, I can only go away for a limited amount of time. We were so looking forward to this holiday and they have just absolutely ruined the experience. My other friend has her own business, so obviously for her, she is self-employed and doesn’t get any holiday pay. She has now missed out on a week’s worth of work.”

The overwhelmed passenger shared: “And on top of that, we are now £4,000 out of pocket for Gran Canaria, including the parking. We managed to get a holiday for Monday in Cyprus, because we still want to make the most of the time off we have, but then that is again costing us £2,500 between us. So we are now £6,500 out of pocket until we get our refund, which could take up to 14 to 28 days.”

Tammy concluded: “We’ve lost all trust with TUI now.”

A spokesperson from Cardiff Airport detailed: “Unfortunately, a global IT issue over the weekend affected major services worldwide and resulted in some flight delays and cancellations at Cardiff Wales Airport.”

“Passengers due to fly from the airport are still advised to check our website for latest updates and contact their airline for specific flight queries. Our teams at the airport are working hard to assist customers as best we can.”

TUI responded rather cryptically for specific enquiries, stating it would not be answering media inquiries on particular customers or flights. Nevertheless, they admitted that the July 19 global outage, followed by air traffic control disturbance over the weekend, was responsible for “flight cancellations as flight crews and aircraft were displaced”.

TUI has assured customers affected by cancelled flights that they can modify their holiday without administration fees to any other TUI package on sale, with a rebooking incentive of up to 10% if the new holiday is more expensive. This incentive is based on the original holiday cost.

Additionally, customers will receive a TUI holiday voucher worth £200 per adult and £100 per child for a future holiday, with vouchers dispatched within 28 days.

Customers who no longer wish to travel can cancel and receive a full refund of the holiday cost, along with a TUI holiday voucher worth £200 per adult and £100 per child for a future holiday. Refunds will be processed within 14 days.

Those who booked a flight with TUI which was then cancelled will automatically receive a full refund within 14 days. Impacted customers will be contacted directly by TUI’s team via a support telephone line where agents will assist in making necessary changes.

“Inbound flights have not been cancelled and customers will be informed when they will return to the UK via direct messaging from TUI,” they added. They also reassured that all customers overseas will be taken care of by TUI team in resorts and at the airports.

In a statement, a spokesperson for TUI UK and I said: “We would like to apologise to our customers who were impacted by the global IT outage that resulted in some delays and cancellations.”

“Whilst the original IT issue was outside of our control the impact, alongside air traffic control restrictions over the weekend, meant we had to cancel some flights and delay some return flights home. We understand how frustrating this would have been and recognise that many of these delays happened when our customers were already at the airport.”

“We would like to reassure customers that if they are currently overseas our TUI team will look after them and flights home provided. We will continue to update customers with more information and can confirm that if a return flight time has changed we will contact them directly 24 hours before departure. We thank our customers for their understanding and continued patience.”