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Couple given ‘less than €5 to survive 20 hour airport’ hell

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Mariea Mohan, 39, and Graham Whaite, 41, were given just one €4.50 voucher and had to sleep on a “cold airport floor” after their Glasgow flight was cancelled.

They pair had been enjoying a dream trip to Disneyland Paris when the travel chaos hit as a technical fault in the UK’s air traffic control (ATC) system on Monday (August 28) left thousands of passengers stranded and flights delayed or scrapped.

Glasgow Times: Mariea Mohan was left in pain as she slept in the airport with a full leg brace due to a previous serious injuryMariea Mohan was left in pain as she slept in the airport with a full leg brace due to a previous serious injury (Image: Sourced)

Mariea and Graham arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport to fly home yesterday at 2pm but weren’t told it was cancelled until eight hours later.

They claim to have been left without a hotel and as they spent 20 hours in the airport with just enough compensation to buy “a sandwich but no water”.

It wasn’t until 10.30am this morning they finally boarded a flight back to Glasgow at last.

Glasgow Times: Mariea and Graham slept on the floor at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Mariea and Graham slept on the floor at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (Image: Sourced)

Mariea told the Glasgow Times: “We slept on the cold floor, or tried to sleep.

“I started to get ratty as I’ve a full leg brace on due to a serious injury and I wasn’t offered any form of support.

“The airport staff, not easyJet related, were so kind to me and let me use other airport lanes so I wasn’t standing.

“EasyJet wouldn’t take any calls [from us].

“I was more upset about not getting a room to sleep when 70% of the flight did.

“We got one voucher €4.50 for the full 20 hours which covered a sandwich and no water.

“The air staff on the plane said they had no room to put anyone up and they offered us snacks and juice, and truly felt sorry for us.

“It was an adventure.”

Glasgow Times: Mariea and Graham were stuck at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Mariea and Graham were stuck at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (Image: Sourced)

The Glasgow Times contacted easyJet for comment.

We previously reported how a number of flights to and from Glasgow Airport have been axed as travel chaos continues for a second day.

The airport averages around 200 movements per day.

Passengers have been urged to check with their individual airlines for the latest flight updates.

The issue started on Monday after a technical glitch meant flight plans had to be input manually by controllers, causing more than a quarter of departures and arrivals to be axed.

Glasgow Times: Mariea and Graham had been having a blast at Disneyland before their airport dramaMariea and Graham had been having a blast at Disneyland before their airport drama (Image: Sourced)

The disruption could last until Friday as many aircraft and crews are out of position.

A notice to travellers on the Glasgow Airport website read: “National Air Traffic Services (NATS) are continuing to ensure a return to normal operations across the UK following yesterday’s technical issue.

“A small number of today’s services continue to be affected and we would remind passengers to check with their individual airlines for the latest flight updates.”

Aviation analytics company Cirium said 790 departures and 785 arrivals were cancelled across all UK airports on Monday.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said it was the worst incident of its kind in “nearly a decade” and announced an “independent review” will be carried out.



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