Elderly pilgrims stranded in Portugal after flight cancelled

The group of 84 pensioners have been stranded in Portugal

A group of elderly pilgrims from Edinburgh have been left stranded in Portugal for five days after their return flight was cancelled due to fog.

The Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh took 84 pensioners to Fatima where they have spent the past week on a Marian Pilgrimage.

However, at the end of their trip their flight was cancelled from Lisbon.

EasyJet said it was working hard to bring all passengers back to the UK over the next few days.

The airline said it cannot get all of the group back home until 31 October and has proposed various travel options including overnight stays for passengers in Luton, Gatwick or Milan.

Medication needed

Group leader Father Scott Deeley said: "Some of the group are quite elderly and there's a lot of them who require medication.

"There are a lot of them in their 70s and 80s, but EasyJet have told us we can't all come at once and some people could be here for five days.

"There was chance the airline was going to arrange a 'rescue flight' to get them home but they changed their mind."

The group travelled to Portugal for the centenary of the Marian apparitions, when the Virgin Mary is said to have been seen by three shepherd children in Fatima in 1917.

It attracts millions of devout Catholics every year but the centenary of the apparition is expected to attract as many as eight million pilgrims.

The group has been accommodated in a hotel in Lisbon while they wait for a return flight home.

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh said: "The tour operator, who organised the pilgrimage, says this is the worst situation of a stranded party she's come across in their company's history.

"EasyJet says it expects them to return in small groups over the coming days but this means the elderly and infirm will have to travel without their group leader, who has to stay in Portugal until the final members of the group leave on Tuesday."

No seats

An Easyjet spokeswoman said: "EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY6982 from Lisbon to Edinburgh on 26 October was cancelled due to severe fog in Lisbon, preventing our inbound aircraft from landing.

"We understand how frustrating that was for our passengers but the safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet's highest priority.

"EasyJet is working hard to bring all passengers back to the UK over the next few days. As we have no seats available from Lisbon to Edinburgh over the next week, we will provide seats on EasyJet flights via Luton, Gatwick and Milan to Edinburgh."

She said all affected passengers were being provided with hotel accommodation where needed.

"Passengers who book their own hotel or a flight with another airline will be reimbursed by EasyJet," she said.

"While the circumstances are outside of the airline's control, EasyJet apologises for any inconvenience caused."