Around 90 EasyJet passengers at Birmingham Airport boarded a flight to Berlin instead of their intended destination, Barcelona, after a last-minute gate change on Sunday afternoon, November 1. The mix-up led to delays as travellers had to disembark and walk to the correct gate.
Passengers Realise Mistake Mid-Boarding
According to BirminghamLive, nearly all of the plane's passengers destined for Barcelona passed through the gate with their boarding passes but ended up on the aircraft heading to Germany. One passenger, who believed he was on the 3.05pm flight to Barcelona, noticed many people speaking German and queried the cabin crew, discovering that he and dozens of others were on the wrong aircraft.
A mother told BirminghamLive that her son was meant to fly to Barcelona but ended up on the Berlin flight. She said: "Birmingham Airport made a massive mistake. My son boarded the plane (obviously showing his boarding pass), but together with the passenger next to him thought it was a bit bizarre that many people were speaking German."
Passengers Disembark and Reboard
Once the error was identified, all affected passengers had to leave the Berlin-bound plane and go to the other end of the terminal, where they eventually boarded the correct flight to Barcelona. The flight was reportedly delayed as a result.
The mother added: "When he queried it with cabin crew at first the man thought he was joking, but it turned out that a large number of the passengers were on the wrong plane. They all had to disembark and go to the other end of the terminal where they finally boarded the right plane."
EasyJet Apologises and Investigates
BirminghamLive contacted Birmingham Airport, which said the query should be directed to the airline. An EasyJet spokesperson said: "Following a change in gate number, a number of passengers due to travel from Birmingham to Barcelona boarded a flight to Berlin and so we are looking into this with our ground handling provider at Birmingham to understand why this happened."
The spokesperson added: "easyJet works closely with our airports to ensure the security of all passengers. This was quickly identified and customers de-boarded the aircraft and subsequently travelled on the correct flight. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by the delay."
