A Highland family says they have had a £12,000 dream holiday to Jamaica ruined after de-icer problems in Inverness caused them to miss a connecting flight in London.
Julie Mackay said she and her family, a group of nine, waited on the ground at Inverness Airport for around four hours on Wednesday morning.
They were due to fly to Gatwick then on to Jamaica where her dad was waiting for them, ready to start the “holiday of a lifetime”.
The family, who stay in Avoch, had been packed and ready to go in March 2020 when the Covid pandemic hit – and they delayed the break until this week.
However, de-icer issues amidst frosty conditions at the Highland airport meant the easyJet plane was late taking off – meaning the heart-broken family missed their British Airways flight to Kingston.
‘First holiday since grandfather died from Covid’
Miss Mackay explained the family had been looking forward to the holiday for years.
“It was the family holiday of a lifetime that we’re not really going to be able to do again,” she said.
“It would have been my mum’s first holiday since my grandad passed away from Covid, my dad had Covid last time he was out in Jamaica and I never thought I was going to see him again.
“It was a real family get together that we haven’t had, like many families, over the last two years.”
The group, which included Miss Mackay’s children Georgie and Seb, were “desperately disappointed”. Two older relatives were also in “floods of tears” at Gatwick Airport.
Tried to rearrange other flights
Once they realised they would not make their connecting flight at Gatwick, Miss Mackay got in touch with British Airways over the phone to arrange a different flight.
Because their connecting flight had been with another airline and they were late to board the plane, the airline only issued a voucher for the price the family originally paid for the holiday.
However, due to the rise in prices of flights since they were booked years ago, and the terms of the voucher meaning it could not be used immediately, it was of “no use”.
Unable to find an alternative, the “emotionally drained” group returned to Inverness.
They have since been able to rebook the holiday with another provider, but Miss Mackay said she believes her family lost around £12,000 during the ordeal.
She says they are attempting to recoup the money lost through their travel insurance.
Delays affected multiple flights
The easyJet plane from Inverness to Gatwick sat on the runway for almost four hours on Wednesday morning, with the pilot supposedly “going out of his mind” over the intercom, repeatedly pushing the departure time back by 20 minutes.
Delays to multiple flights on Wednesday were caused by problems with de-icer machines.
Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL), operator of Inverness Airport, explained that de-icing is the responsibility of ground staff at the airport.
A spokesman explained: “On Wednesday March 31, delays to the departure of aircraft were caused by technical issues with the de-icing rigs operated by the ground handling agent responsible for the aircraft. The time taken to effect repairs led to the late departure of flights to Gatwick and Heathrow.
“De-icing of aircraft is not carried out by HIAL. We are very sorry to learn the delays led to passengers’ travel plans being disrupted.”
‘Beyond our control’
A spokesman from easyJet also said that the de-icing of the plane was out of their control and advised passengers booking connecting flights to have travel insurance in place in case of any issues.
He said: “We are sorry to hear of this passenger’s experience when they missed their connecting flight because their flight from Inverness to London Gatwick was delayed due to de-icing delays provided by a third party and beyond our control.
“We would, however, advise passengers to allow sufficient time to connect to Transatlantic flights and would always urge passengers to ensure they have comprehensive travel insurance for such cases.”
Dalcross Handling Ltd, which operates the de-icers at the airport were contacted for a comment.