Around 90 passengers at Birmingham Airport boarded an EasyJet flight to Berlin instead of their intended destination, Barcelona, on Sunday afternoon, 1st November. The mix-up occurred after the departure gate was changed at the 'very last minute'.
Passengers Realise Mistake Mid-Boarding
Almost all of the plane embarked and took their seats on the wrong service, with travellers passing through the departure gate with their boarding cards before boarding the aircraft to Germany. One passenger believed he was seated on the 3.05pm service to Barcelona until he noticed numerous travellers conversing in German. Upon mentioning it to cabin crew, he realised he, alongside scores of others, was aboard the incorrect aircraft.
Passengers Disembark and Reboard Correct Flight
The travellers subsequently had to leave the Berlin-bound plane and make their way to the opposite side of the terminal for their proper service, which was reported to have been held up. One mother told BirminghamLive that her son was scheduled to depart for Barcelona but ended up on the aircraft to Berlin. 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."
She 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
EasyJet offered its apologies to customers and stated it was investigating the matter to 'understand why it happened'. A spokesperson for EasyJet 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."
