‘Some people couldn’t afford a hotel’: easyJet passenger stranded in Zurich racks up £600 covering own costs

Distressed passengers have been stranded in Zurich for the second night running after easyJet cancelled another flight back to Gatwick airport.

One customer estimates she has already paid out £600 covering essential costs due to the delay - and is still nowhere near reaching home.

EasyJet flight U28118 had been due to depart the Swiss airport at 9.30pm last night, following its cancellation on Sunday night, but the airline cancelled the service just 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time.

Passengers were waiting at the gate when they received a notification on their phones that the flight had been cancelled.

Passenger Sophie Ward says easyJet has failed to help customers book hotels or pay for food and drink while stranded, as airlines are obliged to due when flights are delayed or cancelled.

“Our easyJet flight was cancelled 10 minutes before departure last night. There were no airport staff anywhere, just passengers, and the only reason we knew it was cancelled is because my friend had checked the booking on her phone,” Ms Ward told The Independent.

“The easyJet flight from the night before had also been cancelled, so some passengers we spoke to had had two flights cancelled in two days.

“We had no accomodation provided and were just told to book a three-star hotel, as that is all easyJet will cover,” she says - easyJet customer service staff told her she would have to book it and they would cover the cost later.

“Some passengers said they couldn’t afford a hotel for the night and a lot of people were very upset,” says Ms Ward.

“We had to cover the cost of new flights, a hotel overnight, a taxi to and from the hotel last night and this morning, - all with absolutely no support from the airline - and little to no support from airport staff.

“One lady had mentioned she needed her medication from her main luggage, and no one seemed to know where it was because no plane had arrived to pick it up. Atrocious.”

Under European air passengers’ rights rules, when cancelling a flight at short notice, airlines are obliged to:

Ms Ward also has a car parked at Gatwick Airport, which she says will cost her even more due to the cancellations.

She contacted Gatwick, where staff said they could not waive the overstay fee.

“I’ll have to pay £20 later today, but we will be building a case of receipts and charges to send to easyJet to cover our additional costs because of their error,” she said

She estimates she has already paid out £600 to cover the extra night’s hotel in Zurich, new flights back to the UK, Gatwick parking costs and taxis to and from the airport in Zurich.

Fellow customer Ralph Pearson also claimed the waiting passengers had had little to no assistance from easyJet staff while stranded.

“When you cancel flights you should have people on duty to support them,” he wrote on Twitter, tagging easyJet. “We are six people who are stuck in Zurich and nobody is here to advise. The same flight tomorrow is sold out. What do we do?”

Meanwhile, Twitter user Mary said her son had lost out on four days of work due to easyJet’s cancellation of its Zurich to Gatwick flight last Tuesday.

“My son’s flight from Zurich to Gatwick last Tuesday evening was cancelled as they were waiting to board. Easyjet have rebooked him for Saturday (tomorrow). He could not afford to pay for a different flight and has returned to his friend’s place. That’s four days’ work lost,” she wrote.

EasyJet said it was sending information to customers whose flights are cancelled, including their ability to book with other carriers where required and how to claim for hotel expenses.

An easyJet spokesperson said: “We fully understand how inconvenient last minute cancellations can be and we are very sorry for this. We take our responsibilities in line with the relevant consumer regulations seriously, offer re-routing options to customers in event of cancellations and aim to do so within 24 hours. On many routes we have multiple frequencies so customers have more options to rebook their travel for free quickly and easily with easyJet.

“We provide direct communications to customers on cancelled flights with their options to rebook or receive a refund along with information on booking hotel accommodation where required and information on other entitlements, including rebooking with alternative carriers directly where easyJet flights are no available.

“Customers will be quickly reimbursed by filling out a simple form on our website. We would like to apologise to passengers on cancelled flights for the inconvenience caused.”