Tui passengers to arrive home in Northern Ireland from Greece 41 hours late after flight was cancelled twice

More than 150 Tui passengers are finally on their way back from the Greek island of Kos after their flight to Belfast International, intended to take off on Saturday evening, was cancelled twice.

They are aboard a special flight, operated by the Spanish low-cost airline Volotea, and are expected to touch down 41 hours late.

The extreme delay of flight TOM1649 was blamed on “operational issues”. The initial flight at 9.20pm on Saturday evening was grounded, and a replacement departure on Sunday evening was also cancelled.

A passenger from County Fermanagh told Belfast Live: “The airport was tiny and the amount of people was madness, it was rammed and queuing for the fast food restaurant was an hour and a half.

“To be fair to Tui they’ve set us up in this hotel with all inclusive so there are mixed emotions between people, some are happy with their free bar but some are angry with not getting home.”

A spokesperson for Tui said: “We’d like to apologise to customers due to travel on flight from Kos to Belfast which was unable to depart as planned due to operational issues.

“Everyone has been able to stay in their hotels and meals have been provided. We are in touch and will update them with revised travel plans as soon as we can.

“We understand that delays are frustrating and we thank all impacted customers for their patience.

“Customers on this flight are entitled to compensation in line with regulations and have already been sent information on how to submit a claim.”

They will be entitled to £350 per person because of the delay.

The 2,000-mile journey, scheduled to take four hours and 30 minutes, is one of the longest possible flights between Greece and the UK.

Other Tui passengers in Belfast are complaining on social media about delays – in particular a Sunday morning flight from the international airport to Malaga.

Jonathan Boyd tweeted: “We were due to fly from Belfast yesterday morning at 06:20 with Tui to Malaga.

“Still sitting in hotel in Belfast a day later and not flying out until 20:45 this evening. 38 hour delay and still not sure we will even get away. So our seven day holiday has been reduced to five days!”