Jet2 passengers ‘caught like cage animals’ for half hour as flight takes off with out them
The Jet2 flight to Alicante took off without dozens of passengers this morning (Monday, January 19) who were left waiting in a stairwell to board the plane and only given £10
Passengers for the Jet2 plane waiting in the stairwell where they were ‘left behind’(Image: MEN)
Passengers at Manchester Airport were left in utter disbelief when a Jet2 flight to Spain took off without them. The Alicante-bound flight departed this morning (Monday, January 19), leaving dozens of holidaymakers stranded in a stairwell.
Despite having their passports checked and boarding passes scanned by the airline’s staff, passengers were left clueless for up to 40 minutes. They believed they were simply waiting for an airline employee to open the doors leading to the plane or a bus that would transport them to the aircraft.
However, to their shock, the plane took off without them. The group, consisting of at least 35 people, was later informed that there had been an “error on the stairwell directions”.
Jet2 has since apologised to the customers and stated that they are treating the incident as a “matter of urgency”. Matt, a Denton resident who was supposed to be on the LS879 flight to Alicante scheduled for 7am, expressed his astonishment over the incident.
He claimed that Jet2 staff told him such an incident had “never happened before”, reports the Manchester Evening News. Matt told the Manchester Evening News how he and his son had arrived at the airport punctually, passed through security then made their way to the gate with plenty of time when the flight was announced.
After travellers in the first section of the aircraft were called for boarding, the seat number range for Matt’s position was announced. He said: “So we’ve all come to the terminal and everybody’s gone through from 26 to 40, then they called the rest of us.
“We’ve all gone through to the gate and boarded. But instead of carrying on onto the plane, there were some stairs so the herd mentality is that we all went down the stairs and followed each other.
“There was a lot of us. And then we’re thinking ‘why aren’t these doors open’.
“We thought a bus would come for us and take us to the plane. We were there for 10 minutes, 20, 30, then we thought ‘what’s going on’.
“We were literally stuck like caged animals.” Matt said an airport employee then approached from the tarmac to enquire what was happening.
“He then allegedly informed the travellers ‘the plane’s gone’. Matt said he was informed that staff do not conduct a passenger count once travellers have boarded the aircraft.
Matt further shared: “I am gobsmacked at the fact they don’t do a headcount. That plane is at least 36 people light, it’s bizarre.
“You’d think the captain would ask if they had a full flight.” Matt revealed that he and his fellow passengers were given a £10 voucher from Jet2 while they waited to find out when the next flight to Alicante would be available.
“There’s lots of elderly here as well,” he added. “I’ve got my son here who suffers from anxiety and I’ve brought him to take him away.”
He continued: “It’s like an episode of Fawlty Towers, you’ve never seen anything like it. They’re saying now that there should have been the red rope to divert you onto the plane but that wasn’t, so everyone just went down.
“It’s unfathomable. I don’t even think this has ever happened before.”
In response, a spokesperson for Jet2 stated: “We are aware that flight LS879 from Manchester to Alicante departed without some customers this morning, and we are investigating this as a matter of urgency with the airport. Our team are looking after these customers, and we have already arranged for them to take other flights to Alicante today.
“We would of course like to apologise to these customers.”
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