Hundreds of people were left stuck at Malaga airport after a disruptive passenger incident “traumatised” the flight crew.
Flight U23382 to Liverpool was cancelled after three passengers from the inbound flight were escorted out of the jet bridge tunnel by police. Subsequently, the captain refused to continue the flight.
Passengers were due to leave the Spanish holiday destination at 11.25pm on Saturday night, but as they were queuing to board, passengers said they heard “shouting and screaming” from the plane.
Eyewitnesses who spoke to the easyJet staff and Spanish police.
James Holt, from Manchester, who was boarding the flight with his partner, told the Echo that after the commotion, “these people were brought off one by one.”
After this, passengers were told to head back to the desk at the gate, where the captain informed them that due to the incident, the plane would not take off to John Lennon airport.
“It was clear they were very intoxicated. After getting back to the desk, the captain told us there had been ‘disruptive passengers and the incident had escalated’,” Mr Holt added.
Gaynor Loguellou, from Greasby, who was due to fly back to Liverpool with her husband, daughter, in-laws and two grandsons, told the Echo that the captain said “my crew are traumatised, so we’re cancelling your flight.”
“We said, ‘you’re joking, we’ve got babies here and are about to get a flight home.’ He said, “It’s my decision, it’s my crew, they are worried about passengers getting on.’”
It is unclear what occurred during the incident that meant the flight was inoperable.
Ms Loguellou said that after the flight’s cancellation, she said passengers were “left to their own devices” and told to book another flight on the easyJet app, but this proved difficult for her and other older passengers.
Both Ms Loguellou and Mr Holt said that, on top of this, the app was glitchy, making it even harder to secure spots on later flights.
Mr Holt said the passengers were “met with a wall of silence”.
“You can just imagine the scenes – you've got the best part of 200 people in a room, trying to get on a website which is not working,” he added.
“The member of staff just told us to book the hotel and reimburse it, but all of them were full. It was after midnight, and this meant it was even more difficult to get a room,” Mr Holt added.
An easyJet spokesperson told The Independent: “Flight EZY3382 from Malaga to Liverpool was unable to operate due to a disruptive passenger incident on the inbound flight, which led to the crew being unable to operate the return flight.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and our crew have a responsibility in line with safety regulations to declare if they do not feel fit to operate.
“While this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience this will have caused and worked to minimise the impact of the disruption, providing options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals, and will reimburse any customers who booked their own.
“We always want to ensure our customers feel supported and so we are looking into these customers’ experience at the airport with our ground handling provider at Malaga.”
Read more: What rights do you have to compensation for cancelled flights?
Your favourite UK airports and terminals revealed
Why do flights and hotel rooms cost so much more during the holidays?
French general strike threatens millions of rail and air passengers
Survey reveals families’ top spending priority – and it’s not shopping or eating out
Bibury: The curse of being the world’s most beautiful village
‘Indefinite’ strike causes severe disruption at Spain’s biggest airport
