20.08.05
Travellers at Manchester airport who were expecting to fly off on holiday early yesterday morning now hope to fly out this afternoon, after their flight was delayed for around 33 hours. Their flight was due to take off at 08:20 yesterday morning, but they have been told that they will not depart until around 17:00 this evening.
The passengers were due to fly with Excel Airways to Thessaloniki in Greece, but their aircraft developed a technical problem which meant it was stranded in Cyprus. Airline bosses said they tried to find another aircraft to take the 232 travellers on their holiday, but were unable to do so and passengers were put up in the 5 star Radisson SAS Hotel Manchester Airport for the night.
As soon as passengers arrived at the airport and went to check yesterday, they were told that they were going to be delayed and given a £5 meals voucher. They were told that they would get more information at 09:00, then at 11:00, but were eventually told at 11:30 that they were not going to fly until midnight last night. They were being sent to the Radisson SAS to wait. Then, during their evening meal, a member of hotel staff told them that they would not be flying until today.
A spokeswoman for Excel Airways said: 'The original aircraft suffered a technical problem in Cyprus. We tried to find an alternative aircraft but unfortunately without success. Another aircraft is due out of maintenance today and that will be used to fly the holidaymakers late this afternoon.'
'We regret the delay and the inconvenience this will have on passengers' holidays and we totally understand their frustrations. Once we knew there was going to be a problem we found hotel accommodation for them.'
This is the latest in a summer of delays for Manchester airport, which have included a 60 hour delay last week, a two day delay at the end of July and a 47 hour delay early in July, plus a bunch of shorter delays.
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