A family whose flight to Portugal was canceled at the weekend, said they would avoid flying again this year.
Ayne and Aoife Comerford traveled from their home in Greystones, Co Wicklow, to Dublin Airport yesterday for a 7pm flight to Faro, Portugal.
Wayne and Aoife, and their three children Ailbhe (11), Killian (9) and Freya (5), arrived at Terminal 2 at 3pm and joined the Aer Lingus bag unloader.
Aoife said she was “nervous” about the trip through the airport, given how busy it had been recently, but the family was “so excited” for their first holiday in three years.
“We were at the airport at 15:00 for our 19:00 flight and when we arrived at the baggage claim, it turned out that we were too late for the flight.
“When we called one of the people from Aer Lingus, they said our flight would probably be on a list of canceled flights and that if we joined a queue of people waiting to hear if their flights had been canceled, they would come and tell us, ”she said.
One hour later, the Comerfords were informed by SMS that their flight had been canceled.
“There was then a mad panic to see where you were going to sort out your flight,” Aoife said.
“There was a large queue for ticket sales, which is the queue you are supposed to join to re-book, which was the entire length of Terminal 2. At that stage, with many upset children, we decided not to join in, and we decided to come home and apply for a refund for our flight. ”
Wayne and Aoife paid € 6,000 for their 10-day package holiday and this morning they applied for a refund and started looking for alternative holiday options.
The couple would go on holiday near Albufeira, which Wayne described as his “favorite place”, but Portugal is no longer an “on the cards” for this year.
Instead, and pending a refund of their travel insurance, the couple said they hope to take a trip to France, but they will only take a ferry.
“The kids were crazy when we said there was no holiday, so we felt we had to do something,” Wayne said.
“Flights are not an option. Not after that experience. We heard it was going to be a crazy weekend, even today. So, we said if we book another flight, confidence is not there.
“We have been waiting for three years. I mean days were spent researching it. The excitement built up for the kids. “Getting summer clothes and the excitement for everyone and being at the airport and having them torn away was the hardest part,” said Aoife.
“I’m afraid it’s going to happen again. That we’ll be traveling to Dublin airport just for the flight to be canceled. I just could not put the kids through that stress again to get to and from the airport. not on the plane. ”
Aoife added: “There is not a large amount of enjoyment at the airport that was there before. It used to be part of the fun of going on vacation, that when you get to the airport, the excitement starts.
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“That stress level is increasing. I was very anxious about the whole experience, especially with three small children that if we were to queue for two hours to get through security, it was going to be very stressful – which is another reason why we are not going through it again . ”
The 19:00 flight to Faro, which would take the Comerfords, was one of several Aer Lingus flights canceled yesterday, with the airline calling a Covid strike amid staff and air traffic strikes in France, Italy and Spain, as a reason why “buffers” failed.
A flight to Split in Croatia, along with arrivals from London Heathrow and Amsterdam, was also canceled yesterday.
Independent.ie Aer Lingus contacted and received a statement outlining how Covid cases affected staff members, along with the air traffic control strikes (ATC), which Ryanair had already said it expected to affect flights.
“Aer Lingus expected the demand for travel to return once Covid restrictions were removed and appropriate buffers built into our plans to deal with a reasonable level of additional disruption.
“This weekend, systemic pressure from ATC strikes and ongoing issues at airports and among third-party providers unfortunately necessitated the cancellation of some flights.
“This pressure on the system has been exacerbated by an increase in Covid cases among our own teams over the past number of days. Where cancellations have taken place, Aer Lingus has attempted to accommodate disrupted passengers again on the next available alternative service.
Aer Lingus would like to apologize to the affected customers, and shared details about customers ‘rights and the airlines’ obligations under Regulation (EC) 261/2004 which can be found here: www.aerlingus.com/support/legal / regulation.”
Meanwhile, several further flights to and from Dublin Airport have been canceled today, including two Aer Lingus flights to Brussels and Amsterdam.