Norwegian Air strands HUNDREDS of passengers at Gatwick Airport for 22 hours with ‘disgraceful’ delays to New York bound flight – with police called in to calm the situation
PASSENGERS on a Norwegian Air flight from London Gatwick to New York JFK Airport were left stranded for nearly 24 hours this week – with their requests for a hotel denied.
The flight was due to depart Gatwick at 7.45am on March 26 and land at JFK on the same day at 10am.
A reporter who was on the plane reports that the plane didn’t take off until 4.45am on March 27 after a series of delays.
People due to fly on flight D17013 were initially asked to board a Portuguese Hi Fly plane, which taxied down the runway before returning to the airport.
They were then stuck on the plane for three hours due to a “technical fault” – before being sent back to the terminal.
Passengers were told that another plane would be taking them to JFK “within a few hours” and they were taken through baggage checks, passport control and security.
But the next flight was then delayed five more times – and passengers were told they had to wait in the terminal or cancel their flight by the airline, which has been making a name for itself with budget transatlantic flights.
Requests for a hotel for the night were “were repeatedly refused by staff, who insisted that, because the flight was merely delayed by a few hours, the airline was 'not required' to provide overnight accommodation”.
The passengers included families with young children and the elderly.
Passengers reported that they were given a blanket and just £50 in food vouchers to cover the entire time spent waiting in the airport.
Passengers took to Twitter in droves to complain about the ordeal.
One person tweeted a photo taken from the first flight on Hi Fly, which was forced to turn back before it took off.
The photo shows a sign posted to a door stating the toilets on board were “limited”, and also states that there were not enough emergency oxygen masks on board either.
User Stephen Swagerty wrote: “We have finally boarded the flight, with over two days wasted due to cancellations and delays.
“This is disgraceful. You should be ashamed of the way you and your employees conduct business.”
User Mark Ward wrote: “Flight D17013 cancelled for ‘technical reasons’, after seeing the wider reasons on here are sure it’s not ‘incompetency reasons’”.
User Tif Burns wrote: “At Gatwick flying to the States on Norwegian Air. I have never been treated so rudely by a bag-check female in my life.”
Police were eventually brought in to calm down the situation after the fourth delay to the flight, when passengers started to shout at Norwegian staff.
The police accompanied the staff from this point onwards whenever announcements were made.
With the flight eventually taking off 22 hours after it was meant to at 4.45am in the morning, it landed in New York at midday on March 27.
If you were a passenger on board the flight then you can read more about your rights to claiming compensation here.
A spokesperson for Norwegian said: “We sincerely apologise to customers who were delayed on flight DI7013 from London Gatwick to New York on 26 March due to an aircraft technical issue.
“We understand that delays are frustrating for passengers, and to get them underway as quickly as possible, we had to source an aircraft part to resolve the technical issue.
“However, the aircraft part was delayed, and we subsequently took the decision to fly passengers on the next available replacement aircraft.
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“We considered making hotel arrangements for passengers but as the new departure time drew closer, we recommended passengers remain at the airport to ensure they could easily make the flight.
“Passengers were given meal vouchers and received regular SMS text message updates about their flight with options which included the choice to rebook or refund their ticket free of charge.
“We aim to provide clear and timely communications to our passengers at all times, especially during times of disruption, and we apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused.”