A British mother and her daughter are among thousands of holidaymakers stranded abroad following a wave of flight cancellations over the weekend. The pair, who have not been named, are stuck in a hospital in Montenegro after their EasyJet flight home was cancelled.
The mother, Kelly, a teacher from Lincolnshire, was due to return to the UK on Sunday but was offered an alternative flight on Thursday. Instead, she and her husband took a bus to Dubrovnik, Croatia, where they waited for over four hours for EasyJet to confirm accommodation. They now face a four-hour bus ride to Split on Monday to fly to Bristol on Tuesday, then a train to Gatwick to retrieve their car, hoping to be back in the classroom by Wednesday.
Kelly expressed frustration with EasyJet, saying, 'We do feel really let down by EasyJet. We wanted to get back to work as soon as we possibly could and they didn't help with that at all.' The airline has apologised for the disruption and extended customer service hours, but many travellers report difficulty contacting them.
The cancellations have affected hundreds of school pupils and teachers, with some missing GCSE and A-level exams. Ben, 17, from Stockport, will only just make his maths GCSE after his EasyJet flight from Paris was cancelled; he spent hundreds on Eurostar tickets to arrive home late Monday evening.
Airlines blame lower post-Covid staffing levels and the government's refusal to temporarily ease immigration rules to allow overseas recruitment. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has rejected the industry's request, while airlines say the government could have done more to support the sector during the pandemic.
