‘We are stranded in Paris after the Birmingham airport chaos - it has been an absolute nightmare'
Gena Fraser, 45 from Wolverhampton, went to Paris with her teenage son, brother, sister-in-law and 11-year-old niece on Saturday with expectations they would return to Birmingham Airport on Wednesday evening.
The UK's seventh busiest airport closed for around six hours after a light aircraft developed landing gear problems and made an emergency landing, causing disruption for thousands of travellers around the world. One person suffered minor injuries after the aircraft's main under-carriage collapsed on touch down.
'The relaxation that we felt on our four day trip to Paris now feels ruined,' she said after her flight was cancelled.
Ms Fraser, who works as a disabled student allowances needs assessor, was due to leave Paris-Beauvais Airport on a Ryanair flight around 6pm on Wednesday when she saw news of the disruption.
'On the Ryanair app it said our flight had been delayed until 8pm but the delays kept getting worse,' she said.
Ms Fraser and her family were each given €4 vouchers to spend at the airport on a drink or a snack, but she said the compensation was barely enough to buy a drink.
'You couldn't even buy a drink because the drinks were €4.20,' she said. 'You can't even buy a drink and that's just like a bottle of Coke or Sprite.'
Ms Fraser, who has Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and ADHD, requires special assistance at airports, which was made clear on her Ryanair ticket. This means she gets seats allocated for free and would normally not have to queue at the airport, instead going into a special assistance lane.
'I'd expect Ryanair to be mindful about special assistance because I've told them about my disabilities,' she said. 'There has been no special assistance whatsoever other than the seat allocation.'
She said that after a special trip that the family had been looking forward to for months, she was left feeling 'overwhelmed, extremely stressed and anxious' in a crowded airport.
At around 7pm, Ms Fraser discovered the family's flight was cancelled and they were forced to rebook their tickets for 11pm the next day to land in Manchester, forcing them to spend the night at the Ibis hotel near the airport.
Despite having a new flight booked, Ms Fraser's said her travel anxiety had not abated. 'How are we gonna get back to Wolverhampton?', she asked. 'Is it going to be public transport? It's just a nightmare.'
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Other airlines will doubtless be competing more for the holiday and business travel budgets of those people with very deep pockets. Premium seems like the way to go.
