Social distance concerns were raised after Edinburgh-bound Scots were crammed onto an overcrowded bus after an issue with an EasyJet plane.
After arriving at Bristol airport for an essential work trip on Monday, Colette Walters and her colleague Cieran Fisher were set to fly to the capital at 7am.
But due to issues with their plane they were held up on a crammed bus with no room for social distancing for nearly an hour before eventually boarding another aircraft, reports Edinburgh Live.
Colette said she was left feeling "claustrophobic" on the crammed bus, at a time when a new strain of Covid is spreading rapidly throughout the UK.
Colette said: "We were on the plane for about an hour and then at around 7:30am we were told there was a problem with the plane.
"But instead of getting us back into the terminal building, they put us onto the bus.
"They then took us to another plane on the tarmac on the bus and there was another issue because they didn't let us off the bus.
"They then took us to a third plane, still on the tarmac and on the bus.
"We were on that bus in between planes for between 45 minutes to an hour, I'd say."
With Christmas just days away, Colette says she began to feel anxious on the bus, with little room to social distance.
She said: "I nearly pushed the red button to get off because I was so claustrophobic.
"It made me feel really anxious, even though I'm not overly concerned about Covid, I really felt like, 'oh my god I have to get off this bus'."
In a tweet to EasyJet, Colette slammed the airline, writing: "Great Social distancing! Left on the bus while you try and find a plane that works!"
An EasyJet spokesperson said in a statement: "EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY423 from Bristol to Edinburgh was delayed as a result of a technical issue onboard. Passengers were required to disembark while engineers inspected the aircraft and a replacement aircraft was arranged to operate the flight to Edinburgh.
“The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is the airline’s highest priority. During the pandemic this is more important than ever which is why we have implemented a number of measures onboard in line with guidance from the relevant authorities which include daily enhanced cabin disinfection effective in protecting against coronavirus for at least 24 hours and mandatory mask wearing for customers and crew during boarding, while onboard and when disembarking.
"This is important as social distancing is not always possible throughout the journey.
“We would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused by the delay.”
