EasyJet 'sorry' as NI travellers left in Amsterdam
- Published
Passengers from Northern Ireland stranded in Amsterdam have spoken of their anger after EasyJet cancelled a number of flights.
Flights from Schiphol to Belfast were cancelled on Friday, Sunday and Monday.
Passengers said they were not notified until the last minute and have had no information or help from EasyJet.
The airline has apologised and said flights had been impacted by "strong winds, combined with runway maintenance".
"It has been a total nightmare," Danielle Hamilton from Belfast told BBC News NI.
"We just do not know what is happening, our stress levels have been through the roof".
Danielle travelled for a break in the Dutch capital with her partner Jonathon and brother Jordan, who has cystic fibrosis.
They had been due to return home on Friday.
"When we got to the airport it was bedlam," she said.
The flight was due to leave at 17:35, there was no information, nothing on the board, then at 19:00 it appeared that the flight had been cancelled.
"But there was no-one from EasyJet at the airport to help, staff were telling us to ring them or go on their app".
'Stranded'
After an hour-long phone call, they were told the first flight they could come home on would be 27 April.
But with her brother's medication running out they had to try and get him home as soon as possible.
"We were able to get him on an EasyJet flight set to leave Amsterdam on Monday," she said.
"But he got to the airport only to find out that flight was cancelled too.
"We have had to pay to get him home on another airline, he has been our priority, getting him home was the most important thing".
Jordan was due to arrive home on Monday evening.
"I did manage to speak to an EasyJet staff member, and she was asking how Jordan was. What she told us was the flights are being cancelled because of air traffic control and the wind," Danielle said.
She said she and her partner are now "stranded in a hotel room" on the outskirts of the city reliant on the generosity of relatives.
Caitlin Lowry, her aunt Natasha and grandmother Margaret had been scheduled to fly home on Sunday
Seventeen-year-old Caitlin Lowry, from Bangor, travelled to Amsterdam last week along with her aunt Natasha and grandmother Margaret.
What should have been a lovely family getaway, has become an "horrific experience," she said.
"We were due to fly back on Sunday and were half way through security when an email arrived to say there was no flight. But there was no one from EasyJet there, no one to talk to. We just sat down and had to think what we were going to do," Caitlin said.
Caitlin said she has spoken to passengers who have been in the airport since Friday
It was extremely difficult to get in touch with the airline, she explained.
Her parents in Northern Ireland were able to do so before she was, and the family was booked to fly home on Monday.
"Now that's been cancelled too," Caitlin said.
"We got an email from the airport, not EasyJet to let us know".
'Feeling pretty helpless'
Having spent two nights in a hotel at their own expense, they have booked to fly home with an alternative airline on Tuesday.
"It has just been horrific, we are all just exhausted and want to get home.
"Anything we have got, hotels etc, we have had to pay for ourselves. It's been hard for all of us, my grandmother and aunt both have health problems," she said.
EasyJet said it is doing "all possible" to help affected passengers
An EasyJet spokeswoman confirmed flights between Amsterdam and Belfast had been impacted due to "ongoing operating restrictions at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport as a result of strong winds, combined with runway maintenance".
She said the weather conditions and runway maintenance had meant the airport was unable to accommodate all planned flights.
"While this was outside of our control we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience, particularly to those passengers who were also affected over the weekend by cancellations on the same route due to the airport restrictions put in place," the spokeswoman added.
The airline is doing "all possible" for impacted passengers including providing hotel accommodation, meals and the option to transfer to an alternative flight free of charge, she explained.
"We advised passengers that anyone who sourced their own hotel accommodation will be reimbursed for any expenses."
Flights scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday are scheduled to operate as planned, the airline said.
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