On 9th July, I was waiting at Nice airport for my flight to Luton. My flight was due to take off at 21:45. Then the screen showed "Delayed 22:40". Then the screen went blank and no information was given. Much later, we heard an announcement: "Could all passengers on an easyJet flight 2128 to Luton please come to Gate 24 for further information". We got a 4.50 EUR food voucher (cheapest sandwich + drink at Nice airport is 7.90 EUR). We were also told that the flight is delayed until 00:15 then until 23:50. As to "further information", none of the ground staff were able/willing to explain why every single easyJet flight that evening was severely delayed.
While waiting at the airport, I met Jill and Jenni, two 16 year old girls from Scotland. Thinking how my wait was horrendous and how I will finally arrive in Luton after 2 am, I was shocked to hear these two girls were waiting at the airport since the early morning for their 10:50 flight to Edinburgh and are now waiting to be sent to ... no, not Edinburgh, but Nottingham, 7 hours drive from Edinburgh!!! Here is Jill Gillespie's story:
I've recently been on holiday with my mum and friend, Jenni, to the South of France and had an amazing time, until the last day.
We arrived at Nice Airport on Thursday 9th July to get our flight home to Edinburgh, which was meant to be leaving at 10.50am travelling with easyJet. Everything was going well: we checked in, went through security and waited. My mum wasn't travelling with us today as she was staying a week longer, hence it was only me and Jenni, 16 year old girls travelling alone and, as it was my second flight, I was already really anxious.
The time reached 10.30 and I expected we should be boarding soon, however we soon found out - not by easyJet staff, but by another passenger on the same flight - that our flight was delayed by at least 3 hours. We went to "gate 99" as instructed on the board and were issued food vouchers for 4 euros 50 for lunch. I had to contact my mum who dropped us off at the airport and was by now back in Villefranche and dad who was supposed to be collecting us in Edinburgh and tell them we would be late.
We waited those 3 hours and it went surprisingly fast. However after almost 4 hours of staring at the board, checking for our flight, our flight suddenly just went off the board. Not knowing what was going on, we continued to wait as we thought someone would give us an update on what to do. But no, it was the same passenger as before that now told us our flight had been cancelled!! She had only been getting her information as her husband was demanding them. Still without any information from easyJet staff, we followed other passengers who were directing towards baggage collection point. While we waited for our suitcases, someone told us we now had to go to the easyJet information desk to find out our options.
We decided to wait for my mum to come back, who was now 30 minutes away to arrive and sort it out for us, as we didn't know what to do. We then found out from other passengers that the options were: a) wait until Saturday for another direct Edinburgh flight, on which we could not have guaranteed seats; or b) a flight to Nottingham, with a 7 hour bus journey to Edinburgh. I was unbelievably upset and broke down in tears. I did not know what to do. By the time my mum arrived, the only option left was the flight to Nottingham, with an estimated bus journey of 7 hours.
EasyJet staff was unbelievably inconsiderate: no help at all and the communication was shocking. We eventually agreed to the flight to Nottingham. By now I couldn't stop crying. I know this didn't help the matters but I just wanted to go home and the thought of a 7 hour bus journey was no help, as I get travel sick. It was now around half past 4 and the flight at 9.45pm meant we had to wait even longer.
The staff gave us a 13 euros 50 voucher for dinner each and we managed to find something to eat. Eventually we checked in, again, at 8pm. By now, we had got to know most of the other passengers going on the same flight, which was helpful as everyone was very friendly and we were in the same situation, therefore we all just stuck together. Everything was going alright now and I had calmed down, my mum had left us again as we made our way to the departure lounge and waited.
At 11pm, after waiting 13 hours at the airport, I was ecstatic to be sitting on the plane, taking off. Finally heading home!!
The flight to Nottingham was fairly quick and we touched down, local time at midnight. We collected our baggage, not knowing where to go, we continued to follow the other passengers and we found the coach waiting for us. After everyone had settled down on the coach, we left at half past midnight. I was absolutely shattered by now, so I was very happy to get some sleep. Unfortunately, the coach was freezing and the driver refused to turn on the heating, so sleeping was rather difficult. We arrived in Edinburgh almost 6 hours later. However, we live near Glasgow, so it took us another hour to get home.
This whole thing was such an experience - a bad experience, but I was just so glad to be home!
