Getting trapped airside - when does it become "false imprisonment"?
A few days ago I was airside at LGW, about to board a flight with a well known low cost operator. As usual, the flight was delayed, delayed again, and again, then eventually cancelled. The next available flight that they could offer was six hours later. Unfortunately for me, this alternative was of no use at all as I could not make the appointment that I was flying to, so I decided not to go, and reschedule for another day.
I therefore made my way back into the airside lounge and asked at the information desk the procedure for getting back out into the main terminal. I was told to wait, and somebody would come to escort me over. Half an hour later, nobody had turned up. An hour later still nobody came. Eventually, an hour and a half later, a worked from the airline finally turned up to escort me back into the main terminal.
Effectively I was therefore held airside against my will for an hour and a half. Apart from the shoddy customer service from BAA and said airline, is this legal?