TUI: Holidaymakers return home to Belfast after two-night delay

Nicola Kelly and her boyfriend paid an extra £1,000 for new flights home to Northern Ireland

Holidaymakers stranded in Rhodes for two nights have finally returned to Northern Ireland after being delayed for two days.

Their flight, managed by travel firm TUI, was initially cancelled due to technical issues on Wednesday night.

A rescheduled flight for Thursday did not take off, with many passengers spending the night in the airport.

One couple told BBC News NI they spent £1,000 on a flight with a different airline in order to get home.

After the original flight was rescheduled again, the flight finally landed in Belfast shortly before 23:00 BST on Friday, with passengers saying they were tired and frustrated by a lack of communication from TUI.

One man said it had ruined his family holiday - adding that he was looking forward to getting home to his own bed.

TUI had earlier apologised for the delays, which also affected passengers who were left in Ibiza for more than 24 hours due to problems with that plane.

In a new statement on Friday, the firm said: "We know that this is not how anyone wants to end their holiday and would once again like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.

"All customers will be entitled to claim EU261 flight delay compensation."

"We can't afford to lose that income'

On Friday, Nicola Kelly, from Magherafelt, and her boyfriend were among hundreds of NI travellers stuck on the Greek island.

As she prepared to get on an Easyjet flight to London, Ms Kelly said she and her partner simply could not afford any further delays.

"We've given up. My partner is self-employed and he's lost two days of income," Ms Kelly told BBC News NI's Evening Extra programme.

"We just decided this morning that he couldn't risk losing a third. So that's why we've had to make the decision to pay for another flight.

"And we know it could affect our compensation. We're hoping TUI will do the sensible and fair thing, but at this time we're not holding out much.

"But we can't afford to lose that income. We appreciate how lucky we are that we actually got away on holiday.

"But it was the decision that we made and it just feels completely futile now."

Ms Kelly added that the past two days had been a "really awful experience".

"The mental stress of this is really starting to take its toll. I'm incredibly lucky that I have an amazing, supportive partner.

"He is very, very calm. But between us both we're just really past ourselves."

'Ruined the holiday'

Dozens of holidaymakers from Northern Ireland waiting to the board the TUI flight spent a second sleepless night stuck in Rhodes.

Several children were among the passengers who slept in the airport overnight

They were given hotel accommodation on the first night but some said it was so poor they refused to return, opting to spend the second night in the airport.

"Nobody's had any sleep really, we're all pretty stressed trying to find information," said passenger Michael Cochrane.

"It's pretty much ruined the holiday. We had a lovely time up until then but over the last few days we're so stressed now, we need to get back home."

Mr Cochrane travelled to Rhodes with his wife and 13-year-old daughter for a two-week stay.

The family was supposed to fly back to Belfast International Airport at about 20:00 local time on Wednesday.

After the TUI flight developed a problem, passengers waiting in Rhodes were offered free rooms for the night, but according to Mr Cochrane they were not taken to their hotel until 03:00 local time.

'Awful communication'

Several passengers complained to BBC News NI that the accommodation was substandard and dirty.

They felt so strongly that some, including the Cochrane family, refused to return to the hotel when their flight home was cancelled again on Thursday evening.

Mr Cochrane estimates there were about 100 passengers still waiting in the airport by mid-morning on Friday.

"The communication has been awful. Even when we were speaking to different people we were getting different information," Mr Cochrane said.

"They only gave us the first vouchers late last night [Thursday night]."

The family checked in for their second replacement flight on Friday evening and said they were hoping to depart for Belfast at about 19:30 local time. The flight landed at Belfast International Airport at 22.49 BST.

Michael Cochrane's daughter was one of those who preferred the airport lounge to the emergency accommodation

'Gesture of goodwill'

In their latest statement, TUI said: "We completely understand the frustration of customers who were due to depart Rhodes on flight TOM1335 on 19th July, and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.

"The Sunwing operated aircraft was delayed due to a technical issue which meant the flight crew were over the legal working hour limit.

"Customers were then given a new departure time for the 20th July. Unfortunately, the technical issue needed further work so with the safety of our customers and crew in mind the difficult decision was made to extend the delay.

"All passengers were provided with overnight accommodation; however some chose to stay at the airport."

The firm added that it was "sorry to hear" that some customers were not satisfied with the hotel accommodation and said they would speak with those affected to investigate further.

It also said that a "gesture of goodwill" has been offered to affected customers.