TUI has launched an investigation into claims a flight crew 'didn't care about coronavirus rules' on the Zante flight now at the centre of a Covid outbreak.
All 193 passengers and crew on Flight 6215 from Zante to Cardiff on Tuesday August 25 have been told they must self-isolate after it was identified as the source of at least 16 Covid-19 infections.
Public Health Wales said in a statement that the cases are from three different infectious parties who were on board.
An angry traveller on the plane has claimed that fellow holidaymakers on the flight took off their masks and walked up and down the aisles to chat to others.
Were you on the Zante flight or have you been on a plane and experienced the same? Email webtravel@trinitymirror.com
Wearing face masks is a condition of carriage on TUI Airways and must be worn unless consuming food and drink, or if a passenger has a medical exemption.
But Stephanie Whitfield, from Cardiff, told the BBC this was not the case and has hit out at the airline claiming the 'inept crew' didn't enforce the rules.
TUI have confirmed to Mirror.co.uk that they have launched an investigation into Mrs Whitfield's claims.
She and her husband made the decision to self isolate for 14 days while they were still in the air after what they had witnessed.
Stephanie claimed: "This flight was a debacle. The chap next to me had his mask around his neck. Not only did the airline not pull him up on it, they gave him a free drink when he said he knew a member of the crew.
"Loads of people were taking their masks off and wandering up and down the aisles to talk to others.
"As soon as the flight landed, a load of people took their masks off immediately. The flight was full of selfish 'covidiots' and an inept crew who couldn't care less."
She later told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Many passengers didn’t seem to know how to wear the masks correctly or they seemed to just disregard the rules really.
“Lots of the people were wearing the masks underneath their noses or even underneath their chins.
“They were taking the masks off to talk to friends and they were going up and down the aisles to talk to their friends without their masks on.”
Asked about how the crew dealt with this, Ms Whitfield said she noticed a crew member ask one woman to put her mask on.
“But the vast majority of people weren’t being spoken to, and there was a chap sat next to me who had his mask around his chin for the full flight, and the stewardess was talking to him and she didn’t say anything to him,” she said.
Stephanie and her husband have both sent off for a coronavirus test but are already experiencing symptoms.
She added: "We've got a few symptoms, but we hope it's a cold. We've had a bit of a cough, a sore throat, a headache.
"I'm angry more than anything."
A spokesperson for TUI said: "We can confirm that, at the request of Public Health Wales, we have contacted all passengers on board TOM6215 from Zante to Cardiff on 25th August.
"The health and safety of passengers is always our priority and we are concerned to hear of Mrs Whitfield’s claims.
"Our crew are trained to the highest standards and in line with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) guidelines. Passengers are informed prior to travel and via PA announcements on the flight that they have to wear masks throughout and are not allowed to move around the cabin.
"Masks can only be removed when consuming food and drink.
"A full investigation is now underway as these concerns weren’t reported during the flight or before today."
