Travellers have faced ongoing chaos on Sunday through to Monday as large parts of the UK were hit by snow and the temperatures across the country plummeted.
Those hoping to fly have detailed being told to ‘basically go away’ by airlines as people slept in the airport and others scrambled to find hotels for the night.
Catherine Workman and her husband, Ian, described being stuck at Heathrow for nearly 24 hours after their flight to Dublin with British Airways was cancelled an hour before it was set to take off due to the wintry conditions on Sunday at 1:40pm.
When the second flight they had managed to book onto was also cancelled, the pair were told to find a hotel without their luggage being returned to them.
‘We tried to get our bags and had conflicting advice from airport staff which sent us in different directions and ultimately we waited in a huge line at baggage reclaim only to hear an announcement telling us that there is nothing they can do to return baggage and can we all please leave the airport,’ Ms Workman, a 57-year-old real estate broker from Pound Ridge, New York, said.
‘So with only the clothes on our backs, without toiletries, a hairbrush or makeup we headed to our grim airport hotel.
‘We submitted an ancient looking paper form… Then we joined another mile-long queue to try and rebook or find a standby ticket to Dublin.
‘We eventually made it to the sole agent handing standby tickets and we have now joined a “back room” queue where agents are supposedly working behind the scenes to rebook people.
‘We’ve been told we are £86 in the queue in the mysterious backroom… We’ve been given a £10 voucher for a coffee and a sandwich where we will await news of our fate.’
Ms Workman and her husband planned to visit family in Ireland before heading home to New York on Saturday.
‘Over an hour after we joined the back room queue we have moved up only one spot to £85 and the estimated wait time is 7 hours,’ she said.
‘We are very tired and frustrated… Most upset about lack of communication and inability to return our bags to us.’
In a statement, British Airways said: ‘Like all airlines operating to or from London, our schedule has been affected by continuing adverse winter weather conditions.’
‘We’ve apologised to our customers and are doing everything we can to ensure as many are able to travel as possible.
‘We’re refunding or rebooking anyone whose flight has been cancelled and providing refreshment vouchers and hotel accommodation where needed.’
‘Then we figured out the Bear Inn were taking in waifs and strays, and stranded people.
This content was originally published here.
