HUMBERSIDE Airport has apologised to passengers who endured a "horrific" 21-hour delay while flying home from Alicante.
Holidaymakers were left outraged and exhausted – and one Grimsby woman was left needing hospital treatment for dehydration – after spending a sleepless night in a Spanish airport with limited food and drink, when a strike by French air traffic controllers caused havoc to flights across Europe.
Paul Litten, Humberside Airport's commercial director, said that while both the airport and Spanish airline Volotea were "extremely sorry" for the disruption, they had been left "powerless" by the actions of the French unions.
Passengers booked on Tuesday afternoon's flight from Alicante were due to take off at 2.30pm local time and land at Humberside at 4pm. But after being told there would be a "slight delay", passengers did not board the plane until around 9pm, after it had been held up at Humberside waiting for French airspace to be reopened.
And when they finally took off, they had to make a detour to Palma Airport in Majorca for a crew change, as the long delay meant that the original crew were nearing the end of their legally permitted working hours.
Passengers became increasingly irate when they were then informed that their flight had missed its slot to take off and would be delayed until around 1am.
After initially being told that they would have to stay on the plane, the passengers were eventually allowed into the terminal building, where at around midnight they were told there would be a further delay until 4am.
It was at this point that they were given a voucher for six euros to spend in the airport – the first time during their wait they had been offered any food and drink.
After being told of a further delay to 8.25am, their plane eventually took off at around 11.15am, landing at Humberside at around 1.15pm – 21 hours after it was due to arrive.
Carol Wright, 48, of the Willows Estate, said it was the worst flying experience she had ever endured.
Her daughter Elle Stokes, who was travelling with her, ended up receiving hospital treatment for dehydration hours after landing.
Carol said: "There was a lack of information and we were offered only limited food and drink. It was absolutely appalling. I would not use that airline again."
Mr Litten said: "Clearly it was a horrific experience for passengers and we are very sorry. We can understand why people blame the airline but to a great extent it was out of their hands."