French plane passengers delayed for 29 hours block another flight

Here’s a news story that illustrates why it’s never a good idea to mess with people’s holidays. 

Passengers scheduled to fly from Bordeaux to the Spanish holiday island of Majorca on a 6.15 Saturday morning flight were left feeling bitterly disappointed by a nine-hour delay announced to them only once they’d arrived at the airport in southwest France.

But by the time 3pm came around, ground staff for Spanish low-cost airline Volotea told the frustrated holidaymakers that their downed aircraft’s technical fault had still not been fixed.

Volotea’s crew postponed boarding for an hour, then two and eventually told passengers to turn in for the night and return the next morning, French daily 20 Minutes reported.

And so they did, begrudgingly, only to realize when checking in the following day that there were two queues for the same flight: one for Saturday’s flight to Palma de Majorca and one for Sunday’s.

A few inquisitive looks from the waiting area onto the runway confirm among the disgruntled tourist mob that there is only one Volotea plane and not two. 

By the time boarding is due, 26 hours after their original scheduled departure, a heated argument breaks out among Saturday’s Volotea passengers, who physically block Sunday’s fliers from heading through the final gate check to the aircraft. 

 

 

Airport gendarme police are called in to intervene as both sets of holidaymakers argue over who’s at fault.

Eventually the delayed travellers’ complaints are heard by Volotea, who put an end to the uproar by announcing the departure, three hours later, of an additional plane to Majorca.

 

 

And so at 11:30am on Sunday, a mere 29 hours later, Volotea’s Saturday passengers finally set off into the sun.

Fingers crossed their luggage wasn’t lost.