'Absolute disgrace': Anger as more Belfast EasyJet flights cancelled amidst ongoing disruption

Flights between Belfast and the likes of Gatwick and Edinburgh were cancelled over the weekend.

Travellers have faced another weekend of disruption after a number of EasyJet flights to and from Belfast were cancelled.

Passengers were left stranded after the airline cancelled services between Belfast and the likes of Gatwick and Manchester.

Those travelling from Dublin Airport were also hit over the weekend by lengthy security queues, leading to officials to warn passengers they may miss their flights.

Noor Siliem and his seven friends were forced to stay an extra night in Belfast after their EasyJet flight to Edinburgh was cancelled.

He said the level of communication and service he received was "absolutely shocking."

Noor and his friends are now due home late on Monday evening leading some of them to miss work.

"As a consequence of not getting home I have missed a half day of work as I was due to start at 12.30pm working from home and I have had to notify them of my absence," Noor told UTV.

Another traveller caught up in the disruption was the Belfast-based freelance journalist Amanda Ferguson, whose flight back from Gatwick was cancelled.

She tweeted out saying after she was forced to stay the night in a hotel, before heading back to Northern Ireland via Scotland.

Meanwhile, a return EasyJet service between Belfast and Dalaman was cancelled on Saturday.

One traveller, Patrick Brown said he and his family were forced to cancel their whole holiday after Turkey after their flight was cancelled.

"It’s been an absolute disgrace," he told UTV.

"We had two kids that were supposed to be going and they are heartbroken. 6 hours notice is a joke," he said.

The flight cancellation also left travellers stranded out in Dalaman - Richard McNeill was supposed to fly home on Saturday evening but ended up having to go home via Edinburgh and then a ferry from Cairnryan.

"No hotels either so people sleeping on the terminal floor. Ended up with a family I’d met, in a taxi to Cairnryan to get the ferry home," he told UTV.

EasyJet has been contacted for a response.

Over the weekend the travel company said “various operational and supply chain issues” are to blame for the flight cancellations, after it cancelled 200 flights from UK airports over the next week.

“We are very sorry for the late notice of some of these cancellations and inconvenience caused for customers booked on these flights, however we believe this is necessary to provide reliable services over this busy period," it said.


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