A British holidaymaker has revealed she was forced to sleep on the floor at an Italian airport after her flight from Greece to Manchester was dramatically diverted, leaving passengers stranded without food and water for several hours.
Emergency Landing in Milan
Maddison Watson, 24, had been travelling back home on an easyJet flight from Heraklion on 12 May when the pilot announced that the aircraft needed to make an emergency landing in Milan as he had become ill mid-flight. According to the digital marketing worker, she, along with hundreds of travellers, were initially informed they would continue their journey home directly from the airport. However, not long after landing, the group were told they were scheduled to board a flight to the UK the following day.
Promised Accommodation Not Provided
Despite being assured by ground staff that overnight hotel accommodation would be arranged, Maddison and her fellow passengers were instead left stranded for over 13 hours, leaving them to sleep on the cold terminal floor. Describing her ordeal, Maddison said: 'One minute we were expecting to land back in Manchester, and the next we woke up in a completely different country's airport with no proper plan in place. It was especially upsetting after already dealing with the stress of an emergency landing. The whole situation was stressful, exhausting and incredibly frustrating.'
She continued: 'We were told accommodation had already been arranged. However, communication was extremely poor and many passengers, including myself, were left confused and stranded in the airport. Passengers were largely left trying to figure things out themselves. No water, no food. Nothing.'
Police Intervention and Lack of Support
Maddison said she, along with several other fatigued travellers, had attempted to sleep on the airport floor, their beach towels doubling up as blankets. But the group was forced to cut their slumber short in less than two hours when airport police reportedly kicked their suitcases in an effort to clear the area. She said: 'I stayed on the Milan airport floor. I managed to sleep for an hour and a half before being woken up to the Italian police force softly kicking our suitcases and stopping us from getting rest as it didn't look good.'
The passenger explained that she had found herself in an impossible situation, alleging that easyJet warned passengers they would forfeit further assistance and reimbursements if they left the terminal and made their own plans. She added: 'I wasn't alone - there were many other passengers in the same situation who were equally frustrated and confused.'
Financial and Emotional Impact
The problems did not end there; the delays prevented returning passengers from attending work and scheduled appointments. Maddison said she herself was forced to miss several appointments and had to pay for them in full once she returned to the UK. She said: 'On top of the financial impact, it also caused a lot of emotional stress and uncertainty. I also ran out of medication as I wasn't planning on being away for an extra day.'
The traveller has now hit out at the low-cost airline over what she described as 'poor' communication, leaving passengers without proper guidance throughout the ordeal. She added: 'When trying to contact the airline for help, responses were slow and unclear. Passengers struggled to get consistent answers about flights, accommodation and what would happen next. Don't say things as a global airline and not go through with it.'
easyJet's Response
In a statement to the Manchester Evening News, easyJet said: 'Flight EZY2058 from Heraklion to Manchester diverted to Milan Malpensa due to the First Officer requiring medical assistance. The Captain performed a routine landing in accordance with standard operating procedures and the aircraft was met by medical services and the flight was therefore rescheduled to operate this morning. We did everything possible to minimise the disruption to customers, providing hotel accommodation and meals where available, and we advised anyone who booked their own that they will be reimbursed. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is always our highest priority and we are sorry for any inconvenience this will have caused.'
