Families who had forked out over £2,000 flying to Lapland to see Santa said they had Christmas "ruined" after bad weather meant they didn't even make it off the plane.
After travelling 2,800miles and landing on Finnish soil, passengers waited on board for updates on whether the visit would go ahead - before children were told "Santa is too busy to see you".
Heartbroken families were then told the plane would be returning straight to Birmingham.
While families accepted that nothing could be done about the bad weather, they accused the organisers of the trip of "poor communication".
The flight, on Wednesday, was supposed to fly from Birmingham to Enonteki Airport, which is close to a Santa attraction.
The flight diverted to Kittil Airport which is 143km away from the attraction. Passengers then learned they were not even going to disembark before returning to the UK.
A member of the crew is said to have told them: "Santa is too busy to see you, but I'm sure your parents will be making up for it on Christmas morning."
Passengers have been promised full refunds but still feel Christmas was ruined. The trip was organised by Canterbury Travel, based in Northwood, London, while Jet2 were responsible for the flights.
Sara Taylor, from Manchester, paid £1800 to travel to Lapland with her husband and children aged eight and ten.
She has slammed the "complete lack of communication" throughout the trip.
She said: "It was so many mess ups basically, they were all blaming each other.
"They actually said it's like there were too many cooks, but it's no good when you've got 200 people sat on a plane, mainly children."
She added: "When we were diverted we weren't even told which airport we were going to.
"My ten year old was more understanding, but there were younger children on there who just couldn't comprehend it. They were just looking out onto snow they couldn't even get out on.
"They were all excited because the pilot had done the whole pretending Santa had landed on the plane and was guiding us in.
"There were just no explanations, it was absolutely appalling."
Annette Williams, from London, was travelling with her sister and two young nieces as a Christmas treat.
She said: "This was not a business trip that can be rescheduled next week, this was a once in a lifetime trip for families that may never be able to be repeated.
"There were elderly grandparents on board, children who still believe in Santa, but will not next year, and a truly heartbreaking family where this trip represented a hope to make Christmas special after the untimely death of a father of two small children.
"There was a lack of plan B to get food supplies on board. I believe it was only due to the patience and ability of the many parents on board who played games with the children and who ensured they held their anger that this did not turn into a much tenser situation on board.
"All credit to those people- zero marks to Jet2 and Canterbury."
Another mother, who wished to remain anonymous, forked out over £2000 for the trip.
She said: "They have ruined Christmas. My children were absolutely devastated.
"And to be offered a stale roll or charged for some chocolate was just disgraceful.
"There was no duty of care at all and to be quite frank if you can't look after your passengers you shouldn't be doing this at all."
A spokesman for Canterbury Travel said: "We are desperately sorry and apologise profusely to all our clients who missed out on their dream trip which sadly turned into an ordeal due to unexpected weather conditions.
"But safety is paramount. The authorities closed the airport after the previous inbound plane landed and reported dangerously runway conditions with snow falling on ice which affected the braking of landing aircraft.
"As a result, our passengers were diverted to another airport as efforts were made to de-ice the runway instead of turning back for home and disappointing the families on board.
"But it eventually became apparent that the runway could not be safely reopened. "We were unable to secure overnight accommodation in the area as it is peak season and there was no availability.
"With the crew running out of hours the pilot sadly had to take the decision to return to the UK.
"We are acutely aware of the disappointment that has been caused during this special time and the adverse impact on the Christmas celebrations for so many families.
"We have given 100% refunds to everyone and offered them 25 percent off trips next year at this year's prices which we hope in some small way will help compensate everyone who feels so disappointed."
