Passengers 'Abandoned' by cancelled AMS flight
BOURNEMOUTH-bound passengers were "abandoned" at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at the weekend after a Thomsonfly flight failed to take off on Friday night.
Police were called to Bournemouth Airport to remove protesting passengers when the 7.15pm Amsterdam flight was cancelled without explanation.
Thomson spokesman Harry Helps told the Echo the aircraft arrived at Bournemouth late because of fog and would not have got to Schiphol before the airport closed that night.
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Meanwhile at Amsterdam there were passengers waiting to fly back to Bournemouth on the aircraft.
Trudi and Jason Barlow, from Arcadia Road in Christchurch, had been on a short break and were among those who got a message from Thomsonfly delivered by airport staff at 11pm.
Trudi said they were told their flight had been cancelled and there would be no other flights to Bournemouth until 4pm on Sunday.
Passengers could book that flight or have a refund.
She said: "We were therefore left abandoned with no hotel, transport, food or even information on how to sort ourselves out.
"The airport shuts at midnight and therefore any means of getting this information or making last minute bookings were closed.
"There were families with young children and people travelling alone who were obviously even more vulnerable than ourselves."
Mr and Mrs Barlow, who both work for Bournemouth Borough Council, managed to book seats on a flight to Southampton airport.
"There were families with little kids and some of the mothers got quite emotional and did not know what to do."
The would-be passengers also included two teenage girls.
"Anything could have happened to them," said Mrs Barlow.
"We ended up with a mature lady, and she asked to come along with us because she was left on her own.
"It really was quite scary. We did feel abandoned."
A Thompsonfly spokesman said: "As passengers in Amsterdam were informed of the Thomsonfly cancellation due to fog, they were all advised to contact the airport handling agent in Amsterdam for further assistance.
"Customers were given the option to transfer their flight or receive a full refund."