TUI 27 hour flight delay to Corfu ‘ruins’ family holiday in Cornwall

A family from Cornwall hit out at travel company TUI after their holiday was “ruined” by a 27-hour flight delay. Andy Jenkin, his wife Abi and their two children Piran and Freddie were among dozens of passengers stranded at Corfu Airport at the weekend after their plane back to Exeter suffered repeated breakdowns.

The family, from Shortlanesend, near Truro, were due to fly home at 6.55pm on Friday (May 31) after a week-long trip to the Greek island when they were told their plane had broken down back in England and a replacement aircraft. would be on the way. However, after several hours of waiting, they discovered that the second plane was also having problems, meaning they were delayed even further.

Passengers slept on the floor at the airport while they waited for TUI to arrange their overnight accommodation, but Andy and Abi said it took around six-and-a-half hours from being told of the delays before being taken to their hotel. TUI has since apologized to customers for the delay, adding that they will be eligible for compensation.

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The family said they were taken to a hotel in Corfu at around 2am but struggled to sleep as they waited for an email from TUI confirming their new flight details. Andy told CornwallLive: “TUI was a joke. We have a child who is being tested for autism and a four month old and we were forced to sleep on floors for hours because (TUI) didn’t sort the hotels until late. Our three year old slept in part of the pram so he wasn’t sleeping on the cold floor and had little comfort.

“Then they gave us one for five hours but we couldn’t sleep as we were told they would email us the new details. We worried about missing the email, missing the shuttle back to the airport, then missing the flight home. So we only managed to hang out for a few hours between us and then had a quick shower before heading back to the airport.”

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He added that they had run out of formula for their four-month-old son, Freddie, and despite TUI allegedly telling him more would be delivered to the hotel, they ran out of formula by the time they got back to the airport . “When we got back to the airport they had to find someone to go out on a bike and get us something,” Andy said.

“They gave us €5 for soft drinks when nothing was open and when (shops) opened, a bottle of water or a box of fruit juice was €4.90. And since we had children with us, we had to choose between giving them food. and to drink or drink something the night before, they offered 25 euros, but everywhere ran out of food.

There were cheers from passengers as the flight home took off and landed back in the UK. Despite the many problems they faced, Andy said they all pulled together to help each other and he “can’t fault” the crew on the flight home.

The family, who own Summertime Entertainment – a bouncy castle hire company – finally arrived home in Cornwall at midnight on Saturday and were unable to attend an event they were due to work at earlier in the course of the day. “We had an event at the Duchy Ford show in St Merryn on Saturday and Sunday but had to cancel due to flight delays.”

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Andy and Abi said the experience left them feeling angry with the tour company. Although they were promised compensation, the couple said they had trouble trying to sort this out with TUI as they received an email saying it was unable to process their claim.

“It left us feeling angry and stressed,” Andy said. “It ruined our holiday and our memories were tainted by what happened. We’re not upset that there was a delay because we appreciate that these things happen, but what upset us was the way TUI treated us. This holiday was one that had to be canceled due to Covid in 2021 and I rebooked it before Christmas but now I wish I hadn’t.”

A TUI spokesman said: “We would like to apologize to customers who were delayed on their departure from Corfu to Exeter on flight TOM6543 at the weekend. This is not the experience we want for our customers at the end of their holiday. Unfortunately, due to a technical problem with the aircraft, we were unable to depart as scheduled.

“We understand how frustrating this is for our customers and apologize for the delay, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our highest priority. We can confirm that all customers are entitled to claim compensation and we have been contacted to let them know.”