Dad ‘gutted’ after family holiday cancelled while sitting on the plane

Alan Kennedy, 55, along with his wife and two teenage children, had boarded the flight from Belfast International Airport on Saturday night when they received the news.

Mr Kennedy, who had taken time off work and made all the necessary arrangements, was left devastated by the sudden turn of events.

He told Belfast Live: “I’m from Carrickfergus, and we were going to Amsterdam for four nights – myself, my wife, and two kids, both teenagers. We were flying with EasyJet, from Belfast International.”

The flight was initially delayed by half an hour, as displayed on the departure board. However, upon boarding, the passengers were informed of a longer delay.

He explained: “Last night it showed that the flight was delayed by half an hour on the board, but when we actually got on to the flight it was delayed by longer than that. It was delayed by over an hour. The flight was meant to go out at 6.50pm, but when we were in the airport it was delayed to 7.35pm.”

To their surprise, after the passengers had settled in and the safety demonstration had been conducted, the pilot made an announcement over the aircraft’s tannoy system. It was then they learned about the 11pm curfew at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam.

This caused heartache for travellers, and the Kennedy family to lose out as they had booked onward travel for when they arrived in Amsterdam.

Mr Kennedy said: “Even though we’d have got there before 11pm because they couldn’t get turned around to leave again before 11pm. That was the only indication we’ve had from EasyJet, other than an email from them last night – because we’d booked a package with them, a hotel as well – saying that they’d give us a refund for the flight and the hotel.

“Now, we’d booked other things as well. We’d booked our train transfer, we’d booked trips, and it cost me £50 to stay in the airport for the extra time last night because I’d booked my car in.”

Moreover, Mr Kennedy had taken time off work specifically for this holiday, which added to his frustration. He also expressed concerns about the frequency of cancellations on this particular route, as he had spoken to other affected passengers.

He said: “The guy sitting next to me said it was the third time he’d had that flight canceled on him. Another family we were talking to while we were trying to get our bags back said they had that same flight canceled just last week – the second time in a week.”

Mr Kennedy believes that if this is a recurring issue with the Amsterdam flight, it should be brought to people’s attention.

The situation at the airport was chaotic, with no EasyJet representative present and confused airport staff. Mr Kennedy said: “I’m absolutely gutted. I’ve taken time off work, and that was to be the start of the holiday.

“Our kids are 14 and 18, and the 18-year-old isn’t going to want to go on too many holidays with his parents. That might have been one of our last holidays we would all go on. He’s not going to Krakow with us.”

Belfast Live has approached EasyJet for comment.

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